What is “uncooperative” about the commodification of nature? This article argues that critical understandings of neoliberal environmental governance must contend with complex processes of identity formation and mobilization. Drawing on an analysis of water rights formalization in Chile, widely seen as the most radical case of water commodification in the world, this article demonstrates how Indigenous identity works to subvert the processes and politics of commodifying water. A growing body of recent literature (mainly in the Andes) has emphasized the relationship between water control and Indigenous resurgence, stressing how indigeneity can disrupt neoliberalism. Following this approach, and through analyzing oral testimonies from Atacameño people, I highlight the Atacameños’ agency throughout the implementation of the Chilean water model in the Atacama Desert. By studying the Atacameños’ perceptions of the intimate relationship between water, power, and identity politics in their desert homeland, I conclude that the Chilean water model, rather than posing a threat to a genuine identity, has allowed for the articulation of a legitimate Indigenous positionality for the purpose of retaining a collective hydraulic property. The results provide a more comprehensive understanding of the contradictions of the Chilean case and the role of identity politics within the commodification of natural processes.

什么是自然商品化的“不合作”？本文认为，对新自由主义环境治理的批判性理解必须应对身份形成和动员的复杂过程。本文通过对智利水权正式化的分析，被广泛认为是世界上最激进的水商品化案例，本文展示了土著身份如何发挥作用，颠覆水商品化的过程和政治。最近越来越多的文献（主要在安第斯山脉）强调了水资源控制与土著复兴之间的关系，强调土著如何破坏新自由主义。遵循这种方法，并通过分析阿塔卡梅尼奥人的口头证词，我在阿塔卡马沙漠智利水模型的整个实施过程中强调了阿塔卡梅尼奥斯的机构。通过研究阿塔卡梅尼奥斯人对其沙漠家园中水、权力和身份政治之间密切关系的看法，我得出结论，智利的水模型并没有对真正的身份构成威胁，而是允许表达合法的土著以保持集体水力特性为目的的位置性。结果提供了对智利案例的矛盾以及身份政治在自然过程商品化中的作用的更全面的理解。而不是对真正的身份构成威胁，而是允许表达合法的土著地位，以保留集体水力财产。结果提供了对智利案例的矛盾以及身份政治在自然过程商品化中的作用的更全面的理解。而不是对真正的身份构成威胁，而是允许表达合法的土著地位，以保留集体水力财产。结果提供了对智利案例的矛盾以及身份政治在自然过程商品化中的作用的更全面的理解。