Precarisation of the countryside or precarious countryside? Extractive expansions, colonialism and precariousness(ies) in La Araucanía

Abstract

The La Araucanía Region, located in southern Chile, has been shaped by processes of colonial occupation and investment of extractive capital. The dynamic of appropriation and occupation of the territory has meant an incessant conflict and tension between its actors for four centuries of history. However, it has been in the last 140 years that the Chilean State has affirmed the incorporation of the territory into its national order, generating a process of deterritorialization and re-territorialization, which has involved a series of conflicts with serious consequences for its population. In this work we present a look at the new rurality constituted from this process in relation between the extractivism model. We account for some of the main extractive enclaves, thinking of the power network that constitutes and shapes the Araucanía region. We propose some reflections and invitations to generate research oriented to empirical, intercultural and situated knowledge work.