Alteration of the concept of ethnicity from the experience of the Mapuche weavers in southern Chile

Abstract

The case of Mapuche weavers from the IX Region of Chile allows us to reconsider the phenomenon of cultural identity and ethnicity in light of the tensions and subjectivity processes that mediate the construction of cultural memory. We analyze both a microgenetic scenario of identity works and a macrogenetic scenario where identity processes and commercial and religious techniques of Mapuche context relate to each other in constant transmutation. The concept of ethnicity is discussed to contribute to shed light into a phenomenon that is far from manifest itself as a simple homogeneity. A discussion is made considering the multiplicity of position statements on the experience of the weavers, emphasizing a look at ethnicity as a process in constant development, in which the social memory of the group shapes a biased selection of traditions that guides the building up of a potential identity facing the future.