101. Indigenous Autonomy and Territorial Practices: Constructing Indigenous-State Relations in the Peruvian Amazon.
- Author
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Cortez, Carola Ramos and MacNeill, Timothy
- Subjects
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INDIGENOUS rights , *DECOLONIZATION , *NATION-state - Abstract
Studies on territory in Latin America have noted that the trend of state recognition and devolution of Indigenous territorial rights, known as the territorial turn, has created new spatial configurations that are compatible within neoliberal governance, rather than promoting compensatory justice and decolonization. Using a case study of the Awajún of Peru, we argue that Latin American Indigenous movements do not simply respond to or align with neoliberalism. Rather, territorial autonomy is forged through negotiations with the state and other parties at different scales, beyond recognized territorial rights. This study suggests that to assess the effects of territorial turn on Indigenous struggles, we need to elucidate the significance and role of territory in the construction of autonomy as a negotiated strategy within the context of the state and beyond. Based on ethnographic methods and critical literature on territory with a decolonial lens, we examine Awajún territorial practices and territorio as a lived and a conceived space. In a context of limited recognition, material disparity, and external threats, territorial autonomy is historically constructed through territorial practices and embodied and daily experiences. Awajún territoriality thus resonates with a broad impetus in Latin American Indigenous movements, which challenges and complicates official territorial organization under singular nation-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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