Cultura y Derechos Colectivos: Hacia un Replanteamiento de Identidades en la Relación Estado-Pueblo Mapuche en Chile Contemporáneo

Abstract

This work seeks to develop a reflection on the current relationship between the Chilean State and the Mapuche Movement. This relationship has been stressed by the accentuation of the indigenous demand focused on the search for collective rights. It begins by developing an analysis on international factors and intranational factors that contributed to the development of an ethnic demand that challenges the State seeking greater degrees of autonomy within. It is argued that one of the aspects that prevents a better process of dialogue and encounter between the different actors involved in the Mapuche question is a conception of cultural identities that conceives them as closed and essentialized entities. Rethinking this way of understanding ethnicity and nationality is a first achievement to advance towards a higher quality dialogue between the State and the Mapuche social movement.