Territorio, Autonomía y Autodeterminación en las comunidades Mapuche de Chile. Una visión desde la palabra, la práctica y la legalidad

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the debate on the problematic of Mapuche autonomy in Chile, taking into consideration the viewpoint of its diverse actors, as well as the different discourses that are built around this theme. In the same way, the aim is to identify the current spaces of "indigenous proto-autonomy" in Chile, to contribute to the discussion around the demands of indigenous groups, particularly those of territory and autonomy. The problem of indigenous autonomy goes back centuries, since the arrival of the Spanish conquest, where the Mapuche conflict has been developing throughout history. It is necessary to remark that currently autonomy and self-determination are an important topic in Chile, present in the current political projects, such as the construction of a new National Constitution. The present research focuses from an empirical perspective on the study of the relationship between States in a postcolonial context and indigenous groups, specifically on aspects such as the search for political participation rights and collective rights such as autonomy and self-determination. In this way, the aim is to make known the positions of the various actors in this conflict, carrying out an in-depth analysis through ethnographic work and discourse analysis, focusing on the search for various manifestations of indigenous ideas expressed in their voices, through documents, public statements, and testimonial expressions. The work presented here tries to show what is currently happening in Chile with the problem of indigenous law, in particular their political rights such as autonomy, self-management, customary and territorial law, land, natural resources, which today have been increasingly accepted in national and international law in the American context.