Aymara Cross-Border Practices and Narrow (Inter)national Boundaries

Abstract

This article analyzes how the contemporary cross-border ideas and practices of the Aymara people, located in the regions surrounding the Chile-Bolivia border, transcend state borders beyond everyday inter-community cultural and commercial relations, generating problems and demands toward states and the international arena. To this end, two cases are studied: the Aymaras sin Fronteras association and the demands of the Aymara community of Cancosa for the opening of border marker 41 between these countries. This article analyzes these cases through a bibliographic review, primary sources, and ethnographic observation. It is suggested that, despite the historical and contemporary constraints to which these communities have been subjected, their cross-border practices express not only tensions with state powers, but also international projections based on identity resignifications, and strategies and policies that transcend the cross-border space and the limited inter-state nature of international relations. This article analyzes underexplored aspects of international relations, exploring ideas and practices that are not reified by the euro- and state-centrism prevalent in the discipline. It seeks to shed light on other dimensions of the international from the perspective of the local context and its interactions at various scales.