Social motivations in Mapuche trafkintu

Toward Cosmology, Recovery, and Critique

Bibliographic Data

ID7562855
AuthorsTorben Albersten (0000-0002-8578-6377, Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educación, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume20
Issue4
Pages702-710
Publication date2024-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAlterNative An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1177-1801 • E-ISSN: 1174-1740
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/11771801241291201
OpenAlexW4404200218
LanguageEN
References cited14

This article investigates social motivations in trafkintu (exchange), a concept derived from the Mapuche (Indigenous people of southcentral Chile and southwestern Argentina: literally, people of the land). We propose five key motivations for trafkintu, reciprocity, solidarity, cosmological, recovery, and critique. While reciprocity and solidarity are commonly associated with exchanges, we argue that from a Mapuche perspective it is essential also to relate them to a cosmological motivation, something often neglected by the anthropocentric focus of Western academics. The motivations of recovery and critique reject the idea that Indigenous economical concepts only explain the past by considering the contemporary context of trafkintu. Recovery and critique testify to the colonial economic onslaught and the difficulty of reproducing the motivations of reciprocity, solidarity, and cosmology within a market-driven economy. Recovery and critique motivate trafkintu as a heterodox economic institution with strategic similarities to other anti-hegemonic forces, making them potential allies

Astronomy · Cosmology · Physics · Sociology · Community Health and Development · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Migration, Education, Indigenous Social Dynamics · Psychology · Social Psychology

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