Extractivism in Chile: The production of the mining territory and the struggles of the del Aymara people in Norte Grande

Abstract

Objective/context: Based on critical geography, this article analyses the production of the mining territory in northern Chile and the process of the production of Aymara identities, and how, as apparently localized communities, they display a complex scalar and temporal dynamic to resist non-copper mining projects. This entails a politicization of the struggle for water and the resignification of the culture, at the same time as a (re)construction of the narratives on the territories and the resources. Methodology: the research followed a mixed focus, where primary information comes from interviews with leaders, activists, public officials, mining company personnel, and professionals that have worked with the communities. It also uses secondary information such as reports from public institutions on topics such as the environment, water, and the indigenous. Finally, cartographic information has been taken into account to shed light on territorial contradictions. Conclusions: The article shows how socio-environmental mining conflicts turn into productive instances in ethno political terms, where the territory and the identity are negotiated by a series of actors and interests to the point of consolidating the idea that it is not possible to consider mining as separate from conflict with the indigenous people of Chile. Originality: studies on Chile’s indigenous people have not been widely studied from a geographical perspective. Thus, this study contributes to the efforts to theorize and explain the situation of the indigenous peoples vis-à-vis extractivism, incorporating a Reading that integrates traditional Andean rural spaces with modern coastal urban ones.