The Aymara before the regionalist cleavage in Chile:ethnicity, resources and autonomy

Abstract

The article notes that regionalist cleavage has been polysemic among theAymara in Chile since 2010, but with rising demands for autonomy, greater resources and full recognition as an ethnic and cultural group, as influenced by the indigenous empowerment processes in Peru and Bolivia. Interviews show a lesser claim to political territories, as the Aymara have control over municipalities in the high plateau, but they still demand autonomy and self-determination. In line with their negotiating tradition, they are requesting resources and recognition, rather than question the state structure. The article holds that subordinate narratives demand greater horizontality on how to build the country at the political, economic and ethnic level. The ethnography of speaking shows the polysemic structuring of a demand at the borders where ethnic identity is supranational, making the idea of regionalization less clear.