Objective/Context:

This article deals with the internal variation of the existing demands in the Mapuche-State ethnic conflict in Chile. The evidence collected for each Mapuche community that lives between the Biobío and La Araucanía regions in Chile demonstrates the importance of the case, evidencing the significant heterogeneity in the demands that are submitted to the State, but is also a revealing exercise to make the study of ethnic conflicts travel to intra-group units.

Methodology:

The research was guided by an analysis of spatial self-correlations and hierarchical regressions with contextual variables. The data were collected during 2018 and 2019 from primary and secondary sources for a total of 2,524 Mapuche communities located between the Biobío and La Araucanía regions. The community was classified as 1: Autonomous, 2: Discrepant, 3: Not outstanding, and 0: when no information about the community was found.

Conclusions:

The efforts of the article allow evidence of the existing variation within the case; progress was also made in testing explanatory variables, such as, for example, group size, community longevity, and/or the contagion effect. For its part, the central hypothesis “climate of opinion” invites us to be cautious regarding the conclusions; however, we highlight the explanatory power within the hierarchical model, where opinion at the communal level allows at least to observe the variation between the demands.

Originality:

The variation of demands within ethnic groups is a little studied phenomenon in the global study of ethnic conflicts, so the Mapuche case in Chile presents a tremendous opportunity to continue deepening the knowledge associated with the determining factors of the demands that they present the groups to the State. On the other hand, the conclusions invite us to reflect on the climate of opinion that ethnic groups have concerning the State, especially for the Mapuche case in Chile, a situation which would support the search for answers within the conflict.