'We Have Always Lived Here' - Indigenous Movements, Citizenship and Poverty in Argentina

Abstract

This paper explores the new politics of difference in Argentina since the 1994 constitutional reform and its ramifications for citizenship and indigenous wellbeing. Through a comparison of land struggles among the Mbya Guarani in Misiones and the Diaguita Calchaqui in Tucuman, it is shown that new collective rights gained traction only once indigenous social movements employed the language of ‘differentiated rights’ and pushed for the implementation of multicultural legislation. At the same time, local indigenous communities continue to face adverse socioeconomic incorporation, and the new legal frameworks focus on land rights, thereby foreclosing the establishment of indigenous control over territory. The current politics of recognition in Argentina thus plays a crucial role in deepening cultural and political citizenship, while its impacts remain limited for addressing broader issues of social justice.