Abstract

GUERRA M., Debbie E.; SKEWES V., Juan Carlos; PINO N., Daniela  and  PILQUIMAN V., Marisela. Discourses and local sovereignty: Thinkers of the Southern Chile's coastal range facing capitalist expansion. Aljaba [online]. 2010, vol.14, pp.31-49. ISSN 1669-5704.

The aim of the present study was to analyse and interpret the discourses of local thinkers of estuarine territories inhabited by indigenous and Chilean communities faced with strong external pressures. The contents of these discourses, influenced by the historical ecology that has shaped the landscape, represent a framework for new democratic practices that resist the fragmentation imposed by external agencies. The task of articulating and enunciating these contents rely on intellectuals, who contribute to the creation of a common sense that claims local sovereignty. Due to their relation to the land and to their intermediary position in the community, women have a meaningful role in the construction of that common sense. This article emphasizes: (a) The authorship of a common sense that propagates in the territory through the organizational practices of its inhabitants, (b) The importance of the historical ecology in the determination of the local discourses, and (c) The incipient development of forms of local sovereignty associated with the constitution and defense of a landscape that sustains social life.

Keywords : Environmental discourses; Local intellectuals; Capitalist expansion in Chile; Mapuche-Huilliche.

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