We are like them Conjunction between the Claimed Past, Sense of Unity and Globalized trade in the Atacamas/Atacameno Exchange Fairs

Abstract

This work is the result of research that we have carried out between 2009-2019 on the exchange fairs or also called barter fairs that occur in the Andean area surrounding in the triple border between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. These fairs are scheduled and organized autonomously by a group of cross-border indigenous organizations of the Atacama/ Atacameño people-nation. Despite the economic, social and political changes that have fractured the connection and relationships of this people, the Atacamas/Atacameños show the ability to intervene in their contexts, adopt and create their own forms of integration, connection and exchange. Thus, they incorporate new practices of socio-economic linkage into their traditions, such as the increase in globalized merchandise and the use of money for the purpose of trade, but they also show a special interest in maintaining a sense of Atacama/Atacameño unity in the face of restrictions, filters and border barriers that have been imposed by States.