The chilean elite’s point of view on indigenous peoples

Abstract

In Chile, recognition of the country’s indigenous peoples is generally approached from the victims’ point of view, drawing attention to the social, economic, and legal situation of historically excluded communities. Although this is a legitimate approach, this paper proposes another perspective: looking at how the influential members of the elite perceive indigenous peoples and the construction of a plurinational democracy. Recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights depends to a large extent on their relations with other groups and, in particular, on the strategies deployed by the most powerful minorities. In order to ascertain the opinion of those directly concerned with the “Mapuche issue”, we focused on businesspeople with investments in mining, forestry, salmon farming, and the electricity industry, as well as the country’s business associations. Similarly, we paid special attention to political authorities, private-sector and religious leaders, judges, judicial authorities, and government officials from the Araucanía Region. Apart from identifying differences among members of the elite based on their political affiliations, this paper reveals a generalized awareness of discrimination but a widespread reluctance to find concrete solutions.