Cosmology of development: Humanitarian narratives and missionary work in the Argentine Gran Chaco

Abstract

This chapter explores the historical and ideological relations between religious dynamics and social development projects in indigenous communities of the Argentinean Gran Chaco. My analysis is situated in the context of anthropological studies of Chaco indigenous modernities, which highlight the social, symbolic and economic forms through which indigenous actors define and practice "modernity" . In particular, my research aims to discuss the problem of humanitarianism as a moral narrative of modernity and the way it constructs a "cosmology of development" in the indigenous Gran Chaco. This "cosmology", entangles definitions of culture,person, nature and gender in cultural imaginaries about modernity, developmentand social change sustained in Christian values and actions. The chapter explores the intersection between humanitarian and development narratives in the action of religious organizations that have worked on thes ocial and moral transformation of the indigenous peoples of the ArgentineanChaco. These sociohistorical discursive productions have stressed the relationships between missions, government policies and community development projects.