Identity processes, “family fields” and nomadism: the indigenous life in the borders of modernity/governmentality

Abstract

In 1998 and 1999, a set of families recognized as Huarpes, residents in the department of Lavalle in the province of Mendoza, have been inscribed as “indigenous communities” in the National Institute of Indigenous Subjects. These families have been starring a social reorganization process fundamentally linked to a constant fight defending their territory. The following article aims to analyze the devices and social mechanisms through which the ascribed ethnic people construct territoriality and structure their sociability on the basis of kinship, family leadership and nomadism