Everyday life geopolitics at the Patagonian border: The dynamics of dwelling around the Patagonian Ice Fields

Abstract

The following article proposes to analyse the emergency of geopolitics from the everyday life dynamics of its inhabitants, in an area where diplomatic historical tensions persist, as is the case in the Southern Icefields of Patagonia on the Chilean-Argentinian border. The investigation will be based on a critical geography approach and inspired on feminist geopolitics, where it is argued that there is a need to represent the border beyond the political frame that summons the reinforcement of the Nation-State, security, and the control of territory. The article explores the geopolitical narratives that emerge from dwelling, the social practices that spatialize the border, as their political materialization. For this study, the towns of Villa O’Higgins in Chile and El Chalten in Argentina, will be considered as communities rooted at the edge of the national territories, where tourism redefines the spatial practices on the border zone.