Mapuche women in the city. Life trajectory and political participation in Santiago de Chile

Abstract

The text analyzes the political trajectory of ten Mapuche women in the city of Santiago de Chile. It is based on qualitative research whose main methodological techniques were participant observation and in-depth interview. The text draws on the approaches of decolonial and Indigenous feminisms to account for the different tensions expressed in the political trajectories of these women, linked to issues such as gender, class and their urban Mapuche identity. The article reveals that the political participation of indigenous women is heterogeneous. However, something that characterizes it is their work in the formation of networks and the search for alternatives, both in autonomous and institutional spaces.