In Chile’s neoliberal economy, large-scale timber plantations controlled by national and multinational forest corporations have expanded significantly on traditional indigenous territories. Chile’s forestry sector began to expand rapidly in 1974, the year following the military coup, owing to the privatization of forest lands and the passing of Decree 701. That law continues to provide large subsidies for afforestation, as well as tax exemptions for plantations established after 1974. As a consequence, conflicts have developed between indigenous communities and forestry companies, with the latter actively supported by government policies. The Mapuche people, the largest indigenous group in Chile, have been demanding the right to control their own resources. Meanwhile, they have been bearing the physical and social costs of the forestry sector’s growth. Since democracy returned to Chile in 1990, governments have done little to strengthen the rights of indigenous peoples. Government policy in this area is ill-defined; it consists mainly of occasional land restitution and monetary compensation when conflicts with the Mapuche threaten to overheat. This, however, is coupled with heavy-handed actions by the police and the legal system against Mapuche individuals and groups. From a political ecology perspective, this thesis examines how indigenous communities resort to various political strategies to accommodate, resist, and/or negotiate as political-economic processes change, and how these responses in turn shape natural resource management and, it follows, the local environment. My findings are that the environmental and social impacts associated with landscape transformation are shaped not only by structural changes brought about by economic and political forces but also, simultaneously, by smaller acts of political, cultural, and symbolic protest. Emerging forms of political agency are having expected and unexpected consequences that are giving rise to new processes of environmental change. Evidence for my argument is provided by a case study that focuses on the political strategies followed by the Mapuche movement. I analyze the obstacles that are preventing the Chilean government from addressing more effectively the social, economic, and cultural needs of indigenous peoples through resource management policies. Government policies toward the Mapuche have not encompassed various approaches that might facilitate conflict resolution, such as effective participation in land use plans, natural resource management, the protection of the cultural rights of indigenous communities, and the Mapuche people’s right to their own approaches to development. Employing Foucault’s notion of governmentality, I argue that, while the Mapuche have widely contested the state’s neoliberal policies, they have nevertheless been drawn into governing strategies that are fundamentally neoliberal in character. These strategies have reconfigured their relationship with the state, NGOs, and foreign aid donors. Operating at both formal and informal levels of social and political interaction, this new mentality of government employs coercive and co-optive measures to cultivate Mapuche participation in the neoliberal modernization project, while continuing to neglect long-standing relations of inequality and injustice that underpin conflicts over land and resources.

In Chile’s neoliberal economy, large-scale timber plantations controlled by national and multinational forest corporations have expanded significantly on traditional indigenous territories. Chile’s forestry sector began to expand rapidly in 1974, the year following the military coup, owing to the privatization of forest lands and the passing of Decree 701. That law continues to provide large subsidies for afforestation, as well as tax exemptions for plantations established after 1974. As a consequence, conflicts have developed between indigenous communities and forestry companies, with the latter actively supported by government policies. The Mapuche people, the largest indigenous group in Chile, have been demanding the right to control their own resources. Meanwhile, they have been bearing the physical and social costs of the forestry sector’s growth. Since democracy returned to Chile in 1990, governments have done little to strengthen the rights of indigenous peoples. Government policy in this area is ill-defined; it consists mainly of occasional land restitution and monetary compensation when conflicts with the Mapuche threaten to overheat. This, however, is coupled with heavy-handed actions by the police and the legal system against Mapuche individuals and groups. From a political ecology perspective, this thesis examines how indigenous communities resort to various political strategies to accommodate, resist, and/or negotiate as political-economic processes change, and how these responses in turn shape natural resource management and, it follows, the local environment. My findings are that the environmental and social impacts associated with landscape transformation are shaped not only by structural changes brought about by economic and political forces but also, simultaneously, by smaller acts of political, cultural, and symbolic protest. Emerging forms of political agency are having expected and unexpected consequences that are giving rise to new processes of environmental change. Evidence for my argument is provided by a case study that focuses on the political strategies followed by the Mapuche movement. I analyze the obstacles that are preventing the Chilean government from addressing more effectively the social, economic, and cultural needs of indigenous peoples through resource management policies. Government policies toward the Mapuche have not encompassed various approaches that might facilitate conflict resolution, such as effective participation in land use plans, natural resource management, the protection of the cultural rights of indigenous communities, and the Mapuche people’s right to their own approaches to development. Employing Foucault’s notion of governmentality, I argue that, while the Mapuche have widely contested the state’s neoliberal policies, they have nevertheless been drawn into governing strategies that are fundamentally neoliberal in character. These strategies have reconfigured their relationship with the state, NGOs, and foreign aid donors. Operating at both formal and informal levels of social and political interaction, this new mentality of government employs coercive and co-optive measures to cultivate Mapuche participation in the neoliberal modernization project, while continuing to neglect long-standing relations of inequality and injustice that underpin conflicts over land and resources.

In Chile’s neoliberal economy, large-scale timber plantations controlled by national and multinational forest corporations have expanded significantly on traditional indigenous territories. Chile’s forestry sector began to expand rapidly in 1974, the year following the military coup, owing to the privatization of forest lands and the passing of Decree 701. That law continues to provide large subsidies for afforestation, as well as tax exemptions for plantations established after 1974. As a consequence, conflicts have developed between indigenous communities and forestry companies, with the latter actively supported by government policies. The Mapuche people, the largest indigenous group in Chile, have been demanding the right to control their own resources. Meanwhile, they have been bearing the physical and social costs of the forestry sector’s growth. Since democracy returned to Chile in 1990, governments have done little to strengthen the rights of indigenous peoples. Government policy in this area is ill-defined; it consists mainly of occasional land restitution and monetary compensation when conflicts with the Mapuche threaten to overheat. This, however, is coupled with heavy-handed actions by the police and the legal system against Mapuche individuals and groups. From a political ecology perspective, this thesis examines how indigenous communities resort to various political strategies to accommodate, resist, and/or negotiate as political-economic processes change, and how these responses in turn shape natural resource management and, it follows, the local environment. My findings are that the environmental and social impacts associated with landscape transformation are shaped not only by structural changes brought about by economic and political forces but also, simultaneously, by smaller acts of political, cultural, and symbolic protest. Emerging forms of political agency are having expected and unexpected consequences that are giving rise to new processes of environmental change. Evidence for my argument is provided by a case study that focuses on the political strategies followed by the Mapuche movement. I analyze the obstacles that are preventing the Chilean government from addressing more effectively the social, economic, and cultural needs of indigenous peoples through resource management policies. Government policies toward the Mapuche have not encompassed various approaches that might facilitate conflict resolution, such as effective participation in land use plans, natural resource management, the protection of the cultural rights of indigenous communities, and the Mapuche people’s right to their own approaches to development. Employing Foucault’s notion of governmentality, I argue that, while the Mapuche have widely contested the state’s neoliberal policies, they have nevertheless been drawn into governing strategies that are fundamentally neoliberal in character. These strategies have reconfigured their relationship with the state, NGOs, and foreign aid donors. Operating at both formal and informal levels of social and political interaction, this new mentality of government employs coercive and co-optive measures to cultivate Mapuche participation in the neoliberal modernization project, while continuing to neglect long-standing relations of inequality and injustice that underpin conflicts over land and resources. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate

Observa-se nas últimas três décadas a emergência política de diversas organizações indígenas nos países latino-americanos. Um divisor de águas desse fenômeno foi o levante armado do Exército Zapatista de Libertação Nacional (EZLN), em 1994, no estado de Chiapas (México). Entre as demandas já tradicionais dos povos indígenas, como a questão da permanência à terra, o movimento zapatista incluiu em sua pauta política a reivindicação por autonomia, entendida, nesse contexto, como um distinto regime jurídico-territorial que permita aos povos indígenas mexicanos o exercício concreto da autodeterminação. Após o fracasso na aprovação de uma lei que definisse os marcos legais desse regime, os zapatistas decidem consolidar unilateralmente a autonomia que já vinham desenvolvendo em suas comunidades, desde o final de 1994. A partir dessa autonomia em resistência suprimiram qualquer tipo de relação com o Estado. As mudanças dessas relações de poder se projetaram no espaço, onde, a partir da conformação de comunidades, municípios e zonas autônomas, criaram-se governos paralelos zapatistas, operantes até a presente data. O objetivo da pesquisa foi o de analisar a organização espacial destes territórios autônomos e as relações sócio-espaciais ali travadas, especialmente no que se refere à posse da terra e a divisão social do trabalho e da produção, tentando esquadrinhar, na medida do possível, os limites e potencialidades que o modelo autonômico oferece a outros grupos indígenas. Nosso embasamento teórico e histórico partiu da revisão bibliográfica já produzida a respeito predominantemente mexicana- além de um trabalho de campo nos territórios zapatistas. Metodologicamente buscamos compreender a gênese dos processos e das contradições sociais que fomentaram o surgimento do EZLN com base na ideia de formação territorial e a partir dos pressupostos da Geografia Histórica, ainda que nossa argumentação também tenha dialogado fortemente com a Geografia Agrária e Política. Soma-se a este esforço a tentativa de compreensão dos recursos ideológicos utilizados para o submetimento destas populações ao longo do processo de formação do Estado. A pesquisa apontou aspectos inovadores na estratégia política zapatista, entre elas a própria ideia de autonomia, que há possibilitado o empoderamento das comunidades indígenas frente aos modernos processos de despossessão territorial, entre outros fatores. Em contrapartida, na atual conjuntura política de Chiapas, os territórios autônomos demonstramse com limitações estruturais de ordem econômica, o que, somado a uma nova ofensiva de forças chiapanecas refratárias ao projeto zapatista, vem dificultando, a nosso ver, o desenvolvimento das instituições autônomas e de novos projetos produtivos. / In the last three decades, there was a political emergence of many indigenous organizations around Latin-American countries. This phenomenons watershed moment was the armed uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), in Chiapas (Mexico), 1994. Between the already traditional demands posed by indigenous people, as a separate legalterritorial arrangement that would allow Mexican indigenous people the concrete exercise of self-determination. After fail to approve a law that could define this regimes legal frameworks, the Zapatistas decided to consolidate unilaterally the autonomy that has been developed in their communities, since the end of 1994. From the so-called autonomy of resistance, they broke any sort of relation with the State. The changes of this power relationship are projected on a territory where, from the formation of communities, municipalities and autonomous regions, parallel governments had been set and still operating to that date. The objective of this research was to analyze the spatial organization of these autonomous territories and the socio-spatial relations there developed, especially with regard to land tenure and the division of labor and production, trying to scrutinize, to the possible extent, the limits and potentials that the autonomic model offers other indigenous groups. Our theoretical and historical knowledge was based upon a review of already established literature - predominantly Mexican authors - associated to fieldwork in Zapatista territories. Methodologically, we seek to understand the genesis of the processes and social contradictions that fostered the emergence of the EZLN by relying upon the idea of territorial formation and the assumptions of historical geography, although our argument also strongly dialogs with those of agrarian and political geography. In addition to that lies the effort to understand the ideological resources used for the subjugation of these peoples in the process of state formation. The research pointed to innovative aspects in Zapatista political strategy, including the very idea of autonomy, which enabled the empowerment of indigenous communities facing modern processes of territorial dispossession, among other factors. Simultaneously, there have been observed economic structural limitations in the current political situation in Chiapas, which associated to a new offensive of \"chiapaneca paramilitary forces to the Zapatista project is a hurdle to the development of autonomous institutions and new production projects according to my point of view.

Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2017-10-11T19:01:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Vinicius Pereira dos Santos.pdf: 3504871 bytes, checksum: b4d64d98dcd03da82970f200d2ae1972 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-11T19:01:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Vinicius Pereira dos Santos.pdf: 3504871 bytes, checksum: b4d64d98dcd03da82970f200d2ae1972 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-11 / This present work is about the social and political movement known as Aldeia Maracan? Resistance. That?s an urban indigenous movement that acts from the city of Rio de Janeiro, developed by Indians and supporters since the political struggle involving the removal of the indigenous occupation called Aldeia Maracan?, destroyed in the year of 2013 by an alliance of political and economic powers, that continues to promote an urban reform justified by the realization of sporting mega-events. Our goal is to comprehend how this indigenous movement acts within the group of libertarian and autonomist social movements acting intensively through the last years, strengthen by that moment of intense political activities in the year of 2013, in Brazil. This research was made especially by field observations, with direct participation in planning, projects, political acts and events promoted by the movement we study, besides presence in academicals events, seminars and interviews. The direct approach was complemented by reading books that could help on the analysis of the movement and its insertion in bigger social and political contexts and historical processes. Once the movement we study is part of webs of political movements that do not appear to fight for positions of hegemony, power or control, but for a world of cooperative coexistence between existing or in development diversities we propose, at the end, the metaphor of the ?rust revolution?, where these groups acts like oxidation points, slowly corroding the current social and economic system. / O presente trabalho ? uma reflex?o sobre o movimento Resist?ncia da Aldeia Maracan?. Trata-se de um movimento ind?gena urbano que atua a partir da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, desenvolvido por ind?genas e apoiadores a partir da luta pela manuten??o da Aldeia Maracan?, ocupa??o ind?gena destru?da em 2013 por uma articula??o entre governo e empresas que v?m promovendo uma intensa reforma urbana na cidade, em fun??o da realiza??o de megaeventos esportivos. O objetivo ? compreender como esse movimento ind?gena se insere no conjunto de movimentos sociais de cunho libert?rio e autonomista extremamente atuantes nos ?ltimos anos, fortalecidos pelo momento de forte efervesc?ncia pol?tica no pa?s no ano de 2013. A pesquisa foi realizada principalmente a partir de observa??o em campo, com participa??o direta em planejamentos, projetos, atos e eventos do movimento, presen?a em palestras e semin?rios e realiza??o de entrevistas. A viv?ncia direta foi complementada com a leitura de diversos autores que permitiram um aprofundamento da an?lise sobre o movimento e sua inser??o em contextos s?cio-pol?ticos e processos hist?ricos mais ampliados. Fazendo parte de redes de movimentos de luta e contesta??o que, em seus discursos, n?o buscam hegemonia ou disputas por posi??es de poder e controle, mas a realiza??o de uma situa??o de coexist?ncia cooperativa entre diversidades existentes e em constru??o, propomos, ao final, a met?fora da ?revolu??o ferrugem?, indicando que diversos movimentos atuam como pontos de oxida??o, corroendo lentamente o sistema econ?mico e social vigentes.

Observa-se nas últimas três décadas a emergência política de diversas organizações indígenas nos países latino-americanos. Um divisor de águas desse fenômeno foi o levante armado do Exército Zapatista de Libertação Nacional (EZLN), em 1994, no estado de Chiapas (México). Entre as demandas já tradicionais dos povos indígenas, como a questão da permanência à terra, o movimento zapatista incluiu em sua pauta política a reivindicação por autonomia, entendida, nesse contexto, como um distinto regime jurídico-territorial que permita aos povos indígenas mexicanos o exercício concreto da autodeterminação. Após o fracasso na aprovação de uma lei que definisse os marcos legais desse regime, os zapatistas decidem consolidar unilateralmente a autonomia que já vinham desenvolvendo em suas comunidades, desde o final de 1994. A partir dessa autonomia em resistência suprimiram qualquer tipo de relação com o Estado. As mudanças dessas relações de poder se projetaram no espaço, onde, a partir da conformação de comunidades, municípios e zonas autônomas, criaram-se governos paralelos zapatistas, operantes até a presente data. O objetivo da pesquisa foi o de analisar a organização espacial destes territórios autônomos e as relações sócio-espaciais ali travadas, especialmente no que se refere à posse da terra e a divisão social do trabalho e da produção, tentando esquadrinhar, na medida do possível, os limites e potencialidades que o modelo autonômico oferece a outros grupos indígenas. Nosso embasamento teórico e histórico partiu da revisão bibliográfica já produzida a respeito predominantemente mexicana- além de um trabalho de campo nos territórios zapatistas. Metodologicamente buscamos compreender a gênese dos processos e das contradições sociais que fomentaram o surgimento do EZLN com base na ideia de formação territorial e a partir dos pressupostos da Geografia Histórica, ainda que nossa argumentação também tenha dialogado fortemente com a Geografia Agrária e Política. Soma-se a este esforço a tentativa de compreensão dos recursos ideológicos utilizados para o submetimento destas populações ao longo do processo de formação do Estado. A pesquisa apontou aspectos inovadores na estratégia política zapatista, entre elas a própria ideia de autonomia, que há possibilitado o empoderamento das comunidades indígenas frente aos modernos processos de despossessão territorial, entre outros fatores. Em contrapartida, na atual conjuntura política de Chiapas, os territórios autônomos demonstramse com limitações estruturais de ordem econômica, o que, somado a uma nova ofensiva de forças chiapanecas refratárias ao projeto zapatista, vem dificultando, a nosso ver, o desenvolvimento das instituições autônomas e de novos projetos produtivos. / In the last three decades, there was a political emergence of many indigenous organizations around Latin-American countries. This phenomenons watershed moment was the armed uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), in Chiapas (Mexico), 1994. Between the already traditional demands posed by indigenous people, as a separate legalterritorial arrangement that would allow Mexican indigenous people the concrete exercise of self-determination. After fail to approve a law that could define this regimes legal frameworks, the Zapatistas decided to consolidate unilaterally the autonomy that has been developed in their communities, since the end of 1994. From the so-called autonomy of resistance, they broke any sort of relation with the State. The changes of this power relationship are projected on a territory where, from the formation of communities, municipalities and autonomous regions, parallel governments had been set and still operating to that date. The objective of this research was to analyze the spatial organization of these autonomous territories and the socio-spatial relations there developed, especially with regard to land tenure and the division of labor and production, trying to scrutinize, to the possible extent, the limits and potentials that the autonomic model offers other indigenous groups. Our theoretical and historical knowledge was based upon a review of already established literature - predominantly Mexican authors - associated to fieldwork in Zapatista territories. Methodologically, we seek to understand the genesis of the processes and social contradictions that fostered the emergence of the EZLN by relying upon the idea of territorial formation and the assumptions of historical geography, although our argument also strongly dialogs with those of agrarian and political geography. In addition to that lies the effort to understand the ideological resources used for the subjugation of these peoples in the process of state formation. The research pointed to innovative aspects in Zapatista political strategy, including the very idea of autonomy, which enabled the empowerment of indigenous communities facing modern processes of territorial dispossession, among other factors. Simultaneously, there have been observed economic structural limitations in the current political situation in Chiapas, which associated to a new offensive of \"chiapaneca paramilitary forces to the Zapatista project is a hurdle to the development of autonomous institutions and new production projects according to my point of view.

The Ecuadorian Indian movement entered electoral politics in 1996 through the Pachakutik political party. For the 2002 presidential and congressional elections, Pachakutik made an alliance with ex-colonel and 2000 coup leader Lucio Gutiérrez. After a first-place finish in the first round, Gutiérrez went on to win the presidency in a run-off. This research seeks to determine whether the Indian movement, via Pachakutik, was able to transform its constituency into an effective indigenous voting bloc. The analysis of the 2002 electoral returns applies the Ecological Inference method developed by Gary King. The results show that while indigenous voters were more likely to support Gutiérrez and Pachakutik congressional candidates than non-indigenous voters, large proportions of the indigenous electorate apparently did not follow the well-organized and relatively unified movement leadership.

The development of agroecological food systems in the Andes provides a fruitful study environment for understanding innovation processes in participatory research. In this particular context two knowledge based communities - the modern scientific and the traditional indigenous form an intercultural dialogue that frames the conditions for innovation to be developed and sustained. This thesis presents an exploratory case study of the Communal Agricultural Risk Management project in Challa, Bolivia. A project that aims at combining local knowledge with technological innovation as a strategy to reduce vulnerability to climate risk by strengthening local production systems. The study applies a sociotechnical approach to agricultural knowledge and information systems to analyse how innovations are facilitated and sustained by the projects main actor - the local stakeholder and participatory researcher denominated as Yapuchiri. The main findings of the study conclude that innovation is facilitated but not sustained as vertical linkages between actors and diverging perceptions of personal benefits, project goals and material/immaterial resources limit the performance of the system. The study consequently suggests that the Yapuchiris have to reach consensus on mutual benefits with the collective coordination of agroecological practices in order to find equitable partnerships that help to sustain their work after the project has ended.

Evo Morales, leader du Movimiento al socialismo (MAS), arrive au pouvoir en décembre 2005. Sa victoire électorale, sans précédent depuis le retour de la démocratie (53 % des voix), acquiert une signification historique particulière du fait de son identification comme le premier président indigène bolivien. Le MAS se convertit en la première force politique du pays.Notre analyse se fonde sur deux études de terrain réalisées principalement à La Paz et à Sucre au moment de l'arrivée au pouvoir du MAS, puis alors que se tient l'Assemblée Constituante. Nous avons assisté à de nombreuses manifestations et événements politiques, réalisé des entretiens auprès de dirigeants sociaux, cadres du parti et militants de base ou responsables d'ONG. L'expérience du terrain a permis d'appréhender les « horizons du monde » des partisans du MAS ainsi que les « réseaux de concepts et de récits » (Daniel Cefaï) dans lesquels ils se meuvent.Comme la plupart des partis ethniques, le MAS présente toutes les caractéristiques d'un Parti-Mouvement (Benoît Rihoux). Issus de mouvements sociaux, sa légitimité repose sur son engagement à mettre en oeuvre les revendications dont ces derniers sont porteurs. Si l'analyse de ces liens génétiques le rapproche de nombreux autres partis en Bolivie et ailleurs, nous proposons de rendre compte des spécificités de cette articulation à partir d'une interrogation sur le rôle et l'influence de l'identité indigène en son sein.Pour cela, une distinction est établie entre, d'une part, la référence partisane à l'identité indigène et d'autre part, au-delà de cette revendication, la façon dont la fabrique partisane masiste est informée par la culture politique indigène. Cette double entrée inscrit notre travail dans la discussion qui entoure le statut épistémologique de l'identité indigène et en particulier le constructivisme. Le but de cette étude est de montrer que la dimension indigène du MAS ne renvoie pas seulement à une stratégie électorale mais également à une certaine façon de faire de la politique, dont il faut tenir compte si l'on veut saisir la singularité de ce parti. / Evo Morales, leader of the Movimiento al socialismo (MAS), came to power on december 2005. His electoral victory, unequaled since the transition to democracy (53% of votes), has acquired a particular historical significance from the fact he is identified as Bolivia's first indigenous President.This research is based on two field works, mainly in La Paz and Sucre. The first field work took place when the MAS came to power, the second when the Constitutional Assembly took place. This has involved going to many political events, such as demonstrations and meetings, interviewing social leaders, ONG's workers, cadre partisan as well as rank-and-file members of the party. The field work has enabled me to comprehend the MAS's followers perspectives, and the « chains of concepts and narrative » (Daniel Cefaï) in which they circulate.As most ethnical parties, the MAS shows all the features of a mouvement-party (Benoît Rihoux). Built up from social movements, its legitimacy is based on commitment to implement their claims. Although the analysis of those genetical links makes the MAS comparable to many other political parties in Bolivia and elsewhere, we propose to grasp the specificities of this articulation, starting from the question of the rôle and influence of indigenous identity in the party.A distinction is then made between the reference to the party's indigenous identity and, further, to the way in which the MAS's party-factory is shaped by the indigenous political culture. This double-entry places our research in a discussion about the epistemological status of indigenous identity and constructivism in particular.The purpose of this research is to show that the MAS's indigenous dimension is not only an electoral strategy but a proper way of being in politics, and this should be taken into consideration to get a clear idea of the singularity of this party.

A Assembleia Constituinte que deu origem ao Estado Plurinacional da Bolívia no ano de 2009 marcou o encontro da diferença indígena com o Estado. Baseada em valores e paradigmas alternativos, tais como a plurinacionalidade, a interculturalidade e o vivir bien, a refundação do Estado se insere num contexto de mobilização e articulação de grupos historicamente marginalizados, os quais passaram a questionar a legitimidade do projeto de Estado-nação moderno. Tal processo impactou significativamente não só as estruturas de poder e as instituições estatais, mas também as referências, valores e discursos em torno das questões culturais, simbólicas e identitárias. Desse modo, a pesquisa teve como objetivo principal analisar como as identidades culturais e políticas dos diversos movimentos que compuseram o chamado Pacto de Unidade foram progressivamente reivindicadas, negociadas, articuladas e posicionadas em torno dos diversos temas e das disputas simbólicas e de poder, dando origem ao indígena originário camponês. Para tanto, foi realizada pesquisa interdisciplinar, a partir da (i) da teoria crítica latino-americana, mais especificamente do pensamento descolonial; (ii) dos Estudos Culturais e, em especial, dos Estudos Culturais desde/sobre América Latina; (iii) dos Estudos Pós-Coloniais; e (iv) das Epistemologias do Sul. Os documentos centrais para as análises realizadas foram as duas propostas formuladas pelo Pacto de Unidade para a Assembleia Constituinte entre 2006 e 2007, bem como o texto constitucional aprovado em 2009. A partir de tais análises, concluiu-se que a construção identitária em torno do indígena originário camponês representou uma importante chave de articulação para os movimentos indígenas, tendo relevância tanto simbólica, ao marcar a chegada dessa diferença indígena na institucionalidade estatal, quanto concreta, ao estabelecer novas relações entre povos e nações indígenas com a sociedade nacional e garantir o reconhecimento de direitos específicos. Embora as dificuldades e limitações relativas à articulação de interesses e visões de mundos tão diversos em uma identidade abrangente como o indígena originário camponês já venha se explicitando na prática política, deve-se reconhecer que o processo de formulação de um projeto de nação comum no âmbito do Pacto de Unidade demonstrou que os movimentos indígenas foram capazes de articular políticas identitárias bastante complexas e incorporar conteúdos mais amplos às suas lutas, desestabilizando os significados hegemônicos da nação e levando à reinvenção discursiva e prática da comunidade imaginada. Por fim, cabe destacar que o processo constituinte boliviano representou um importante passo não só na luta pela transformação das relações de poder entre Estado e sociedade, mas também como uma luta epistêmica contra o eurocentrismo como pensamento único e universal, apontando novos valores e horizontes civilizacionais, bem como novas possibilidades teóricas para a análise das identidades culturais contemporâneas / The Constituent Assembly that gave rise to the Plurinational State of Bolivia in 2009 has marked the encounter between the indigenous difference and the State. Based in values and alternative paradigms such as the plurinationality, the interculturality and the vivir bien (live well), the refounding of the State resulted from the context of mobilization and articulation of historically marginalized groups, which started questioning the legitimacy of the modern nation-state project. Such process has impacted significantly not only the power structures and the state-owned institutions, but also the references, values and discourses related to cultural, symbolic and identity questions. On that account, the research had as main objective analyze how the cultural and political identities of the different movements that integrated the so called Pact of Unity had been progressively reivindicated, negotiated, articulated and positioned around the multiple themes and the symbolic and power disputes, giving birth to the indigenous originary peasant. Therefore, interdisciplinary research was developed from (i) the Latin- American critical theory, more specifically the decolonial thought; (ii) the Cultural Studies and, in particular, the Cultural Studies from/about Latin America; (iii) the Postcolonial Studies; and (iv) the Epistemologies of the South. The main documents used to support these analyses were the two proposals formulated by Pact of Unity for the Constituent Assembly between 2006 and 2007, as well the constitutional text approved in 2009. From these analyses it can be understood that the identity construction around the indigenous originary peasant portrayed an important key of articulation for the indigenous movements, having both symbolic relevance, marking the arrival of this indigenous difference in the State institutions, and a concrete relevance, establishing new relation between indigenous people and nations and the national society and guaranteeing specific rights recognition. Although difficulties and limitations related to the articulation of interests and world views so different in an embracing identity as the indigenous originary peasant has already been shown in political practice, it is important to recognize that the formulation process of a common nation project inside the Pact of Unity has demonstrated that indigenous movements were capable of articulating identity politics extremely complexes and incorporating comprehensive contents to their fights, destabilizing the hegemonic meanings of nation and resulting in the discursive and practical reinvention of the imagined community. Finally, it is important to stress the Bolivian constitutional process represented a very important step not only in the fight for transformation of power relations between State and society, but also as an epistemic fight against the eurocentrism as a sole and universal thought, appointing news values and civilizational horizons, as well as new theorical possibilities for the contemporary cultural identities analyses