Decolonization as relocalization: conceptual and strategic frameworks of the Parque de la Papa, Qosqo.
Date
2011-08-26
Authors
Grey, Sam
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Abstract
The work at hand traces the trajectory of one particular iteration of decolonization praxis, from its origins in pre-colonial Andean thought through to the consciously traditional collective life being forged by six Quechua communities in Qosqo, Perú. It diverges from other investigations of Indigenous praxes by undertaking a purposefully non-comparative analysis of both the concepts and strategies employed, as well as of the consonances and tensions between the two. The case study detailed here offers a rebuttal to prior theories of an Indigenous political absence in the Peruvian highlands through offering evidence of a uniquely Andean place-based politics. It details efforts to revitalize and repatriate the cultural landscape of the Quechua ayllu, drawing on a variety of tactics to assert the primacy of the relationship between Andean Peoples and Andean lands. This is decolonization as relocalization, wherein the near-ubiquitous ‘local’ of non- and anti-state discourses is reconceptualised as ‘emplacement.’
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Keywords
decolonization, Indigenous, Peru, Quechua