Pluriverse and Relationality from an Andean Ethnographic Perspective

This lecture suggests that any answer to these questions can only be constructed through ethnography with a particular interest in those experiences embedded within the increasingly common processes of the so-called Anthropocene. It will focus on two ethnographic cases from the Andes—Pacaraos and Cañaris—suggesting Amerindian studies reconsider narratives of resistance and veneration of nature in order to avoid certain préjugés about Indigenous cosmologies: instead of being hidden or in resistance against external forces, they can be openly displayed and be manipulative or conflictive; instead of dealing only with protective ›spirits‹ or ›earth beings‹ they can deal with material and artificial things; instead of being embedded in ahistorical schemes they can respond to historical and contemporary struggles.