Indian Frontiers of Latin America: from Marginalization to Integration. Nation, Ethnic Groups and Neo-Liberalization Two Hundred Years after Independence

Abstract

This text is the introduction to a dossier that collects four of the papers presented in the discussion group “Indian Frontiers of Latin America” (Leticia, 2009), organized by the Institut des Hautes Etudes de l’Amérique Latine (IHEAL), the Institut des Amériques (IDA) and the Amazonia Campus of Universidad Nacional de Colombia. This event gathered researchers and regional actors involved in the management, administration, protection and analysis of the frontier regions and of the populations that inhabit them. We decided to privilege the participation of young researchers, of those that allowed us to consolidate an ample view of the international scenario of the Amazon basin, and of those that gave us the possibility of launching a dialogue between academic discourses and those of the NGOs. The indigenous character of the populations that inhabit the frontier regions of South America gives these regions a particular situation. A conscious reflection about their dynamics and tensions cannot be carried out without reference to their ethnic nature or without thinking the political frontiers as cultural frontiers.

Keywords

• fronteras indígenas
• grupos étnicos