Ethnopolitical processes in the Chilean democratic transition. Local governments and the mapuche political via

Abstract

This article reflects on experiences and political processes in local interethnic contexts, mainly in the Region ofAraucanía, historical mapuche territory, and that have been taking place withrelative intensity and continuity since the return to democracy in Chile. I refer in particular to the emergence of mapuche organizations and leaderships that, as has happened with other ethno-political movements in Latin America, have set to take control of local governments as a way to introduce social transformations. Within these transformations weemphasize one: the inversion in power relations. All this serves to show the relationship that exists between municipal electoral participation and the daily lives of local actors, as well as to think about political projects that are both alternative and significant.