What Does indigenism Mean
The concept of indigenismo can be understood in different ways. According to the first meaning mentioned by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary, this is the name of the set of studies focused on the aboriginal populations of the American continent that are currently in nations where there is a predominance of European civilization .
The doctrine that defends the rights of aborigines and mestizos in Latin American countries is also called indigenismo . This movement promotes economic, social and political demands for these groups.
It can be said that indigenismo is a current dedicated to the investigation and revaluation of indigenous peoples. Within this framework, it fights the discrimination suffered by these cultures and fights against Eurocentrism .
The roots of indigenismo are found in the colonial era . By then there were already claims and demands to improve the situation of the native settlers. However, in the 19th century this trend lost strength , although it then began to recover in the 20th century .
Indigenism maintains that indigenous people are victims of the system, resulting in marginalization from society . These communities are oppressed and exploited and often do not receive the benefits associated with the advancement of civilization.
It is important to bear in mind that there are various branches within indigenismo. Some are based on the demand for the full integration of indigenous people into national and world society, for example, while others demand recognition of indigenous specificity and compensation for centuries of damage.
In the art , finally, indigenismo it is to exalt indigenous issues . The Argentine Liliana Ancalao , the Peruvian Camilo Blas , the Ecuadorian Mónica Ojeda, the Ecuadorian Oswaldo Guayasamín , the Paraguayan Susy Delgado and the Mexican Diego Rivera are considered artists who developed indigenism.
Another of the most relevant figures in this movement was the Salvadoran Alejandro Marroquín , an anthropologist who dedicated much of his work to enriching the theory that revolves around indigenism. Among his best-known works in this context we can mention Balance del indigenismo. Report on indigenous politics in America , which was published in 1972 in Mexico.
For Marroquín, if we understand this concept as a state policy, its purpose is to pay attention to the problems that plague indigenous peoples and try to solve them so that they can be integrated into the nationality that corresponds to them through the territory in which they are and are found. found before colonization . In his study he recognizes the following classification:
* Political indigenism : also known as revolutionary or reformist . Its origin took place when it was proposed that the indigenous people participate in the various transformation projects that were taking place on their lands, such as the revolutions in Bolivia and Mexico. This type of indigenism, Marroquín points out, emphasizes the social claim of the individual and his struggle to conserve his territory. The confrontation with landowners, caciques, bureaucrats and gamonales also enters;
* Community indigenism : this variant of the previous one emphasizes the collective nature of land ownership, as well as the customs and uses of the indigenous community,
* Developmental indigenism : it appeared when governments began to worry about the integration of indigenous peoples and their lands to the development of the economy and the market of their respective countries. It is important to remember that, in addition to racial and cultural discrimination, these people suffer the impact of government decisions that entail tasks such as deforestation;
* Anthropological indigenism : it is considered part of anthropology, the science dedicated to the study of the human being integrating all its aspects, from the physical to the cultural, and is ideologically related to the developmentalist and the political.