Intimate Sovereignty: Mennonite Self‐Government in “Green Hell” and the Politics of Belonging in Paraguay's Chaco

Abstract

During the mid-1920s, Mennonite settlers to the Paraguayan Chaco established a system of self-governance in a frontier region constructed and imagined at "the edge" of the state. Despite the fast-paced economic development that has rapidly transformed the region, the Mennonites have managed to remain socially and geographically isolated from the rest of the population until recently. What sustains their contemporary model of self-governance in a context that is rapidly changing? An examination of the key role of intimacy, explored through the strategic deployment of sexuality and the establishment of socioeconomic institutions, reveals how they have established a racialized project of sovereignty in the region, coconstructed in interdependence with the Paraguayan state. The article discusses the implications of such a model in a region inhabited mostly by indigenous peoples, and offers some theoretical reflections on the intimate role of race and sexuality in shaping nonstate projects of sovereignty. [Gran Chaco, indigenous peoples, Mennonite settlers, Paraguay, sovereignty, state] R e s u m e n A mediados de la década de 1920, un grupo de colonos menonitas estableció un sistema de autogobierno en el Chaco paraguayo, una región fronteriza construida e imaginada en la "periferia" del Estado. A pesar del acelerado desarrollo económico que ha transformado rápidamente a la región, hasta hace poco tiempo los menonitas habían logrado permanecer aislados social y económicamente del resto de la población. ¿Qué sostiene su modelo contemporáneo de autogobierno en un contexto que está cambiando tan apresuradamente? Un análisis del rol clave de la intimidad, explorado a través del despliegue estratégico de la sexualidad y el establecimiento de instituciones socioeconómicas, revela cómo los menonitas han establecido un proyecto racializado