O chamado para a criação: notas etnográficas sobre a cosmopolítica andina em JuJuy (Argentina)

Abstract

The so-called Andean “mutual nurturance” describes the relationships among beings in the cosmos as an interdependence that develops over a lifetime. The cosmopolitical nature of this expanded sociability has already been addressed to discuss the consequences of an overly human-centric world, characteristic of modern politics. In this text, we suggest that this cosmopolitics includes an additional element: a potential to conjure encompassing relationships, developed within the framework of asymmetrical bonds that characterize interdependence and is particularly mobilized by the notions of “permission” and “respect.” Through an analysis of these relationships among Indigenous communities in the Jujuy highlands, Argentina, we discuss the continuity—although neither linear nor direct—between the “mutual nurturance” within the shepherds’ familial world and the relationships expressed in their interactions with technicians, state development agents, and mining companies. We suggest that the potential for conjuration, expressed in each of these situations, constitutes a privileged entry point to approach Indigenous cosmopolitical diplomacy and to more fully understand current demands for “permission” and “respect” made by communities in the face of neo-extractivist expansion.