Between the future that is already here and the past that has never passed: chaco diplomacies in the anthropocene

Abstract

Since Crutzen and Stoermer (2000) proposed to name the current era “Anthropocene”, there have been a number of ongoing debates on the term. The Chaco and Amazonian Indigenous philosophies and practices presented in this article reveal understandings of the contemporary climate instability that differ from prevailing ideas in the West. We will show that certain Amerindian narratives are based on a spiral notion of time, accepting the latency of interspecific metamorphosis, and sharing out agency amongst multiple beings with whom Amerindians regenerate relationships of care and diplomacy. In addition, we will show that Indigenous societies have been submitted to profound environmental changes right from the moment that their territories were conquered. In this sense, the current global crisis is part of a broader schema of changes that Indigenous societies have already been dealing with. Finally, we will argue that cosmology and geopolitics are inseparable edges within the same anthropocenic process.

Keywords: Anthropocene; Indigenous People; Cosmology; Gran Chaco; Amazonia