Paper short abstract:

The paper analyzes relations among non-indigenous people and institutions with indigenous people in the context of the so-called Mapuche conflict in Chile. The paper asks what possibilities of life and social transformation are offered by engaging in the interstices in the context of a conflict?

Paper long abstract:

The paper analyzes relations among non-indigenous people and institutions with indigenous people in the context of the so-called Mapuche conflict in Chile. The ethnography follows non-mapuche collaborators in Mapuche organizations in Santiago, and the implementation of the PACI, an intercultural community police force among indigenous communities in Southern Chile. The analysis suggests that the conflict both reaffirms notions of radical alterity and opens up for introspection concerning nationhood, history and the state among those involved in relations across difference. Following Tsing's (2006) notion of collaboration as a practice that does not necessarily entail sharing a common goal the paper offers a critical discussion of the notion of interculturality. It asks what possibilities of life and social transformation are offered by engaging in the interstices in the context of a conflict?