Digital Activism and the Mapuche Nation in Chile

Abstract

Digital activism is often considered an instrument that allows subaltern groups, without access to traditional media systems to assert their points of view. However, within social movements, Indigenous peoples face the challenges of using technology strategically, when presenting demands within the digital environment. The case of the Mapuche nation, in the south of Chile and Argentina, is an interesting example of how diverse activists managed to a rapid presence on the Web 1.0, but they are less successful in occupying social networks and new forms of digital activism 2.0. This chapter argues that these limitations, in the case of Chile, are related to the hostile environment produced by traditional media, including print media and television, whose dominant interpretative frameworks associate Mapuche protests with violence and even terrorism, uncritically aligning the visions of the State with large corporate interests in Indigenous territories. Secondly, the chapter examines how the strategic use of digital activism is also limited by the lack of confluence between human rights movements and digital activist groups, essentialist tendencies, and other issues within the Mapuche movement. Finally, this chapter argues that as the most socially vulnerable group in Chile, the Mapuche lack adequate access to the Internet and training, limiting a massive uptake of the tools of digital media and discusses how some Mapuche groups are addressing this.