Abstract

HOFFMANN, Odile. Constructed Differences, Convergences To Be Imagined. Identity, Territory, and Government in the Colombian Rurality. Rev. colomb. antropol. [online]. 2016, vol.52, n.1, pp.17-39. ISSN 0486-6525.

In this article I explore the historical panorama of territoriality and land tenure in Colombia, in order to locate new political dynamics and to acknowledge the transformative potential of rural communities that have developed original territorial experiences that we interpret as "counter-models", product of their geographical and political imagination. The complexity of contemporary rural settlement and rurality in Colombia requires overcoming essentialisms that are exacerbated in some conceptions of identity, territory, and government. Finally I explore two specific cases to show that rural territorialities cross the borders of assigned identities, and challenge the adequacy of criteria of ethnic- racial belonging and territorial affiliation.

Keywords : identity; territory; local government; geographic and political imagination.

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