ABSTRACT

The article seeks to discuss the political perspective of indigenous peoples in their effort to resist aggression and reclaim back land and opportunities lost to development. The very general and the highly specific condition of indigenous groups in today’s market-based globalization is directly connected with the growing interest of social scientists in the ontological turn, which entails critical interrogations of reductionist assumptions about ‘what exists’ and novel ways of questioning contested realities. The ontological turn is a re-evaluation of Western-centric conceptualisations of the world and an attempt to move beyond essentialist positions. The flourishing debate on political ontology informs an examination of the tragic socio-spatial experience of the Guarani-Kaiowa of South America, a relatively large indigenous people who had more than 99% of their land grabbed and struggle to resist genocidal pressures and systemic racism. The research investigated how the Guarani-Kaiowa mustered sufficient strength in recent decades to fight a battle that many considered hopeless. Empirical evidences demonstrate that the Guarani-Kaiowa, despite major challenges, have obtained some small, but significant political victories because of coordinated efforts to retain a social and spatial distinctiveness. Crucially, what has made the Guarani-Kaiowa unique is how perceived and charged social differences are mobilised according to the political goals of different groups (indigenous and non-indigenous) and in relation to a spatial setting that is simultaneously lost, desired and anticipated. If the socio-spatial characteristics of the Guarani-Kaiowa were regularly manipulated to render them invisible from a development perspective and to justify the appropriation of indigenous land and other illegal and racist practices by the national state and business sectors, at the same time their own singularisation was their best hope of resistance and the main force that allowed them to continue hoping for a better life and ethnic survival.

摘要

本文试图讨论土著人民在抵抗侵略和收回因发展而失去的土地和机会方面的政治观点。在当今以市场为基础的全球化中，土著群体的非常普遍和高度具体的状况与社会科学家对本体论转向日益增长的兴趣直接相关，这需要对关于“存在什么”的还原论假设进行批判性审问，并提出质疑的新颖方式。现实。本体论转向是对以西方为中心的世界概念的重新评估，并试图超越本质主义立场。关于政治本体论的激烈辩论为对南美洲瓜拉尼-凯奥瓦人悲惨的社会空间经验的考察提供了依据，一个相对较大的土著人民，他们拥有超过 99% 的土地，并努力抵抗种族灭绝压力和系统性种族主义。该研究调查了近几十年来瓜拉尼-凯奥瓦人如何集结足够的力量来打一场许多人认为没有希望的战斗。经验证据表明，尽管面临重大挑战，瓜拉尼-凯奥瓦人仍取得了一些虽小但意义重大的政治胜利，因为他们通过协调努力保持了社会和空间的独特性。至关重要的是，Guarani-Kaiowa 的独特之处在于，如何根据不同群体（土著和非土著）的政治目标以及与同时丢失、渴望和预期的空间环境相关联的方式来调动感知和引起的社会差异。