The evolution of approaches to the integration of the indigenous population into social processes in Latin American countries in the XV-XX centuries

Abstract

This article analyzes approaches to the integration of the indigenous population into social processes in Latin American countries in the XV-XX centuries as well as scrutinizes the factors that determined the evo-lution of policies towards indigenous peoples. Moreover, it examines the concepts of interethnic interaction, which took shape in the first half of the XX century, laying the ideological foundation of nation- and state-building in the countries of the region for decades to come. In Bo-livia, the consolidation of the ruling elites after the Federal Revolution (1898-1899) on the basis of the anti-indigenous project led to the dom-ination of radical (including racist) ideas of solving the “indigenous problem” both in public discourse and in the political practice through-out the XX century. Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) contributed to the reassessment of the role of the indigenous peoples in social process-es. However, the preservation of political dominance of the creole ma-jority in conditions of limited political pluralism led to the creation of the paternalistic concept of relationship between indigenous communi-ties and state. The intensification of political rivalries in Peru in the first decades of the XX, accompanied by the growing influence of pro-gressive political organizations that spoke out in defense of marginal-ized segments of society, resulted in the development of a more inclu-sive approach to ethnic politics.

Keywords

• ethnic policy
• nation building
• state building
• socio-cultural processes
• assimilation
• indigenous peoples of latin america