Unpacking Ethno-tourism: "Development with Identity", Tourism and Mapuche Struggles in South-central Chile

• Main Author: Krell Rivera, Ignacio
• Other Authors: Nelson, Lise
• Language: en_US
• Published: University of Oregon 2012
• Subjects: Development; Indigenous territories; Latin America; Mapuche; Sustainability; Tourism
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12518

In Latin America, multicultural reforms came in the last three decades in response to regional indigenous empowerment that in turn coincided with processes of neoliberal re-democratization. In Chile, neoliberalization also meant for the indigenous Mapuche dramatic processes of indigenous proletarianization by de-territorialization and a new cycle of resistance and creative deployment of political, economic and cultural agencies bringing forth issues of sustainability, collective well-being, and democracy. Through qualitative methods, this thesis examines how multiple actors are shaping the landscapes of tourism development in south-central Chile. There, tourism practice and discourse in Mapuche rural communities reflect Mapuche responses to a recent phase of policies targeting them under the rubric of "Development with Identity". I demonstrate through three case studies how both these policies and tourism markets are being engaged by Mapuche ethno-entrepreneurial leaders, who at the same time advance agendas of Mapuche re-territorialization through novel re-articulations of livelihoods, place, and identities.