The Impacts of Neoliberalism on Mapuche Identity through the Theoretical Lens of Place

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/6w924d702

Abstract

The largest indigenous group in Chile, the Mapuche, have fought to maintain their culture and ancestral territory of Wallmapu from colonizing forces. They succeeded in fending off Spanish invaders for 300 years; however, their sovereignty ended in the late 1800s with the Chilean military campaign of the Pacification of the Araucanía. The Chilean State occupied most Mapuche land, sequestering the Mapuche into small reducciones through granted land titles called Titulos de Merced. Dictator Augusto Pinochet later implemented neoliberal economic reforms and policies, privatizing the lands of the Mapuche through Law Decree 2.568. Decree 2.568 allowed selling the Titulos de Merced to forestry, pine, and eucalyptus plantations throughout the Araucanía region of Chile. Neoliberalism, set in place by Pinochet and maintained by the Chilean government today, has had considerable negative impacts on the Mapuche people. Companies have infringed upon Mapuche land, causing adverse environmental impacts that directly impact the livelihood of the Mapuche, forcing the Mapuche to search for economic opportunities in the cities of Eurocentric Chile. The Mapuche have established new communities within the spaces of Chilean cities. Through the theoretical framework of place, this paper investigates the implications of neoliberalism for the Mapuche identity, and the role neoliberalism plays in the polarization of the Mapuche.

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