Interculturality and Territorialities Confronted in Latin America

Abstract

In the context of an emergent discourse over the “Bicentenario”, Anthropology —sometimes considered as the science of difference- has a role to play offering an approach to past and present cultural diversity within the Argentinean state formation —that is to the objective and actual cultural pluralism—, in order to understand some of the critical aspects of contemporary intercultural relations. This supposes the recognition of interculturality as the dynamic aspect of plurality, as it implies that social actors belonging to different cultural spheres become involved with each other; a plurality whose objective existence depends precisely on the characteristics of intercultural relations. Such relations make plurality visible, while the future of cultural plurality in itself depends on the nature of these relations. It is not feasible to maintain diversity when it is transversed by the inequality that has characterized historically and contemporarily the relations of native populations and national states that emerged from Creole independences. Key words: Interculturality, Indigenous, Territoriality, Latin American, Extractive Industries