A "party" of "Indians and Christians". Organization forms and dynamics of collective action in the jurisdiction of Jujuy (1781)

Abstract

In this article we examine the organization and dynamics of collective actionsduring an episode in the jurisdiction of Jujuy in 1781. Towards the end ofMarch of that year, indigenous people from Chaco, soldados partidarios -soldierswho defended the border-, other inhabitants of the southern oriental zone andthe city “plebeians”, would have been preparing an attack to the city of Jujuy.The proposed analysis focuses on how the calls for participation were made,the channels and modes of circulation of information and the movements ofpeople in the jurisdiction. Moreover we seek to identify processes of decisionmaking, the distribution of tasks and the internal structure of the movement.Reconstructing the meanings of the practices and visions the population ofJujuy’s jurisdiction had, regarding the colonial order at the end of the XVIIIcentury is our main concern.