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University of Pittsburgh

Publication Date

Fall 2013

Program Name

Argentina: Regional Integration, Development, and Social Change

Abstract

The rise of indigenismo in the province of Jujuy, Argentina led by the Asociación de los Pequeños Productores de la Puna (the APPP) and the Red Puna has transformed the relationship between the “pueblos originarios” and the state. Historically disenfranchised by the political and economic system, a wave of radical activism began with the national constitutional reform in 1994 that for the first time recognized the pre-existence of the original pueblos before the formation of the Argentine state and conferred communal land rights and a right to cultural sovereignty. The protests and petitions that followed over the last 18 years as the Red Puna and the APPP have fought the provincial and national government to win the communal titles to their land, dramatically increased the visibility of the indigenous movement.

In 2013, the first communal titles for the pueblos originarios of the Puna were achieved. While many communities are still fighting for the land, the focus of the APPP and the Red Puna has shifted from the confrontation over land to the underdevelopment and poverty among the pueblos originarios, the majority of whom practice subsistence agriculture or ranch llama and sheep. The current efforts of these organizations are centered in the commercialization of traditional crafts, particularly wool fabrics, and Andean agriculture to create a monetary economy and a source of jobs for the indigenous community of the Puna, outside of the mining encouraged by the Argentine government.

Disciplines

Inequality and Stratification | Peace and Conflict Studies | Politics and Social Change

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