Ethnicity Claims and Prior Consultation in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

This chapter analyzes “the ups and downs” of the process of identity construction in times of commodity boom looking at the region of Espinar in Cuzco. The authors propose as their main argument the idea that the construction of K’ana indigenous identity in Espinar is developed in relation to a process that concerns the development of institutions to manage the cost of the boom in Espinar: the prior consultation . In a detailed analysis of how local people in Espinar recognize that they are the heirs to the K’ana nation , the authors discuss the indigenous policy and how this acted as a strategy in a community, which found itself in the eye of the storm of social unrest in Peru.

Research conducted for this paper was funded by the Research Management Department at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Dirección de Gestión de la Investigación of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) and was completed as part of the Interdisciplinary Group for Qualitative Research on Politics (GIECEP). We would like to thank Paola Porcel Caballero, Verónica Bravo, and Sebastian Arguelles for their assistance on this paper. We would also like to thank the people from Espinar for their time and patience during this research.