"The 'indigenous movement' and unresolved questions in Latin America"

Much has been written, inside and outside Latin America, on the so-called "indigenous movement," especially after the Chiapas insurrections in Jan., 1994 and, more recently, the political events in Bolivia and Ecuador. This reflects, primarily, an acknowledgement of the immediate political impact of the actions taken by the "indigenous" peoples, of the conflicts that these actions developed which threaten to create an important influence over the rest of the population. These indigenous uprisings put at risk, in an increased number of countries, the actual regimes (self-defined as democratic) and their "governability" over a population that is each day more discontent because its needs are increasingly unsatisfied. This population is learning to organize in new forms, raising unexpected demands to the dominant powers. However, the large majority of existing literature refers to the topic of identity as a demonstration of the infinite discourses on culture, mulculturalism, hybridity, etc., that is, as part of the large number of terms referring to identity issues disconnected from the question of power. Other lines of reflection have been neglected. These include speculation about the complex and long-term implications of the mobilization of the Latin American "indigerious" peoples, in particular with respect to alternative forms of labor and collective authority, and towards other forms of social existence. The author proposes here to open two questions not sufficiently discussed with respect to the "indigenous" movement, but in his judgment the most decisive and important about the near future of Latin American history: the relation of the "indigenous movement" to the nation-state and to democracy within the existing matrix of power.