Weaving Solidarity Decolonial Perspectives on Transnational Advocacy of and with the Mapuche (Mapudzungun)

Weaving Solidarity: Decolonial Perspectives on Transnational Advocacy of and with the Mapuche (Mapudzungun) By Sebastian Garbe
2022 | 348 Pages | ISBN: 3837658252 | PDF | 6 MB
With this historical framework in mind, the present study is based on theidea that decolonial movements, especially of groups in Latin America, suchas the Zapatistas or the Mapuche,6serve as key reference points for contemporary expressions of international solidarity in the Global North. Nevertheless,the struggle of the Mapuche in particular is largely overlooked and internationally unrecognised. For that purpose, the present study provides a detailed account of how the struggle of the Mapuche became transnationalised sincethe 1970s (chapter four) and explains the reasons for transnational Mapucheadvocacy transcending the domestic context in Chile, as well as its frameworkand strategies (chapter five).Notwithstanding, using Indigenous movements as reference points forstruggles for liberation and emancipation is not without its difficulties. Onthe one hand, such decolonial movements outside of Eurocentric constraintsare often conceptualised as historical alternatives outside of the left-wingmelancholia (Traverso 2017) in the Global North-that is, a state of mindto mourn and self-reflect upon the failed and defeated left-wing politicalprojects throughout the twentieth century, that nevertheless continue to inspire future political action. As such, they carry the burden of representinga historical horizon for humankind beyond late capitalism and the climatecrisis. Put in drastic terms, the Global North needs to "forget the socialistmumbo-jumbo and play the Indian card" (Oppenheimer 2002, 54).The presentresearch will engage in that debate and discuss the complicated relationshipbetween the Mapuche and the non-Indigenous Left, as well as the consequences and opportunities arising thereof.On the other hand, and taking the insights from postcolonial critique tothe context of the Americas, there is a long-lasting tradition in the GlobalNorth of stereotyping and romanticising American Indigenous and Nativepeople (Berkhofer 1979). Particularly, the German-speaking context has beenanalysed as overly enthusiastically engaging with and referring to Indigenouspeople and Native Americans. Here, the term "Indianthusiasm" intends to describe the particular German racial gaze through which Indigenous peopleand Native Americans are racially stereotyped, idealised, and romanticised(Calloway, Gemunden, and Zantop 2002; Usbeck 2015). In addition to thesedebates, the present study seeks to critically discuss the relevance of a Maputhusiasm within the expressions and experiences of international solidarity and advocacy with and of the Mapuche.