Emancipation or Enclosement? The Spatialization of Difference and Urban Ethnic Contestation in Colombia

Abstract

The focus of this article is a paradox inherent in the political effects of spatial claims undertaken by multicultural policies in many nation states: though territory is considered as one of the primary means of achieving autonomy and self-determination, it is at the same time a mechanism that encloses difference. Through a combination of archival and ethnographic research I study the political effects of binding indigenous people's minority rights with indigenous reservations in Colombia. I focus on analyzing the legal ways in which an "ethnic indigenous type" has been attached to an "ethnic indigenous rural topos" in the jurisprudence of the Colombian Constitutional Court. I also examine how ethnic groups in the capital city of Bogotá have questioned the multicultural ideals of indigeneity and the romantic desires of what an indigenous place should look like. Ultimately, my intention is to draw attention both analytically and politically, to the necessity of more thorough analyses of the consequences of strict forms of spatializing ethnicity.

Ecoturismo, gubernamentalidad neoliberal y despojos en la Amazonia colombiana

“…De manera similar a los casos del Parque Tayrona (Ojeda, 2012a;González, 2014) y la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Bocarejo, 2012), la empresarialización de los campesinos tuvo varios problemas que fueron atribuidos principalmente a sus condiciones culturales, lejanas al funcionamiento efectivo del mercado. Un funcionario explicaba el asunto así: Por lo tanto, para algunos funcionarios el problema de esta cooperativa se presentaba porque los campesinos tenían una serie de creencias que no respondían a los cánones normativos exigidos dentro de la industria del turismo.…”

Submergence: Precarious Politics in Colombia's Future Port‐City

“…PCN's efforts to defend Afro‐Colombian territories against the threat of forced displacement reflect the political geography of multiculturalism in Colombia (cf. Bocarejo , ) . As Paschel argues, the outcome of the negotiations that led to the passage of Law 70 was that “the rural black political subject … would become the prototype for granting rights to black populations in Colombia” (2010:749).…”

Tres generaciones del transnacionalismo kichwa-otavalo

“…Colombia es uno de los primeros destinos en este proceso de movilización y Bogotá, entre otras ciudades colombianas, ha contado con una población constante desde la década de 1940, a tal punto que fue reconocida oficialmente como cabildo indígena de la capital en 2005 (Ordóñez, Colmenares, Ginsel y Bernal, 2014;Bocarejo, 2012;Chaves y Zambrano, 2006). Hoy en día, este cabildo tiene un poco más de 2 000 personas registradas y estima que hay más o menos 1 500 personas más que no se han registrado.…”