Conflict and space (re)production in Pewenche land: struggles around the Alto Bío-Bío National Reserve, Lonquimay

Abstract

This article focuses on the way in which the management of protected areas established in Indigenous lands is influenced by the socio-political
dynamics of local communities and stakeholders. Although the links between Indigenous peoples and protected areas remain undoubtedly “controversial”, it is shown, through the case of the Alto Bío-Bío National Reserve in Chile, that conflicts not only arise between Indigenous peoples and the State or between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous settlers, but also amongst Indigenous
communities. In so doing, the article considers conflict as both a means to visualising tensions over the access and/or appropriation of specific places,
and a catalyst which redefines power relations amongst local stakeholders by reappraising their social and political positions as well as their spatial locations. Such a re-mapping process is analysed through a “conflict geography” perspective applied to the experience of the Alto Bío-Bío National Reserve’s neighbouring Pewenche communities and their political mobilisations, which created a new mapping of the actors and their spaces. The article eventually concludes on the role of conflict regarding the production and the resilience of Pewenche territoriality