History of relations between forestry companies and Mapuche communities in Chile. Contributions to the ethnographic reconstruction of economic development in interethnic contexts

Abstract

During the last fifteen years, in the central-south area of Chile, there is evidence of a broad set of situations that define the relationship between Mapuche communities and forestry companies. These situations range from tension and confrontation to glimpses of dialogue, and even cooperation arrangements. In the framework of these processes, the plasticity of the positions of both communities and companies has been highlighted. Also both positions had to be placed within new legal and ethic-politic coordinates in relationship with indigenous people. In this regard, Chilean signature of the ILO 169 and the changes that this implies to the regulations affecting the relationship between businesses and indigenous communities, are particularly important. Indigenous communities, in turn, also undergo their own rethinking process facing the new political and economic conditions that affect them, as well as national indigenous policy. This article provides an overview of the forms and contents that affect the relationship between forestry companies and the mapuche people in Chile during the last fifteen years, including facts and cross challenges. It examines the relevance of ethnographic applications about expressions of economic development in inter-ethnic contexts, and concludes around the roles that both social sciences and actors involved in development processes are assuming in the last period.