NEGOTIATING BEING MAPUCHE AND MIDDLE- CLASS: THE EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL MOBILITY OF THE MAPUCHE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN CHILE A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2018 DENISSE SEPÚLVEDA SÁNCHEZ SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Declaration: .................................................................................................................................... 8 Copyright Statement ...................................................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: Introducing the disadvantage of the Mapuche people and examining their experiences of social mobility in the Chilean context ................................................................. 12 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 12 1.2 Who are the Mapuche people and what is their social context? ................................ 18 1.3 Thesis structure and argument .......................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2: Linking the analysis of class mobility with ethnic and post-colonial relations .......... 35 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 35 2.2 Social mobility and education ............................................................................................ 39 2.2.1 Social mobility and meritocracy .................................................................................. 40 2.2.2 Education and Bourdieusian class analysis ................................................................. 44 2.2.3 Class identities and the cultural approach .................................................................. 51 2.2.4 Social mobility and class identities in Chile ................................................................. 55 2.3 Intersectionality ................................................................................................................. 60 2.3.1 More than gender, ethnicity and class: intersectionality ........................................... 60 2.3.2 Studies of intersectionality: middle-class education and ethnic minorities ............... 63 2.3.3 Post-coloniality............................................................................................................ 66 2.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 69 Chapter 3: Methodology: Researching Mapuche social mobility ................................................ 71 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 71 3.2 Researching the consequences of social mobility through a biographical perspective 73 3.2.1 Life history as a research method ............................................................................... 74 3.3 Introducing Mapuche with higher education .............................................................. 79 3.4 The fieldwork ............................................................................................................... 83 3.4.1 Pilot interviews .................................................................................................... 83 3.4.2 Between Temuco and Santiago ........................................................................... 86 3.4.3 The experience of conducting the interviews ...................................................... 89 3.4.4 Introducing the participants ................................................................................ 94 3.4.5 Research positionality .......................................................................................... 99 2 3.5 Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 101 3.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 102 Chapter 4: The road to university .............................................................................................. 104 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 104 4.2 The contexts of social mobility ........................................................................................ 106 4.2.1 Parental background ................................................................................................. 106 4.2.2 Early schooling .......................................................................................................... 111 4.2.3 Migration experiences .............................................................................................. 116 4.3 Overcoming obstacles on the road to success ................................................................. 119 4.3.1 The contribution of parents ...................................................................................... 120 4.3.2 Problems with the Chilean educational system ........................................................ 126 4.3.3 The role of teachers .................................................................................................. 131 4.3.4 Unequal access to resources and opportunities ....................................................... 134 4.3.5 Class and ethnic discrimination ................................................................................ 137 4.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 140 Chapter 5: The process of identification and changing identities ............................................. 142 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 142 5.2 The challenge of upward social mobility for people’s sense of class and ethnic identity 146 5.2.1 Introducing the groups: the ‘mobile accommodators’, the ‘rooted’ and the ‘re- signifiers’ ............................................................................................................................ 147 5.2.2 Being a professional and ‘fish out of water’ experiences ......................................... 151 5.2.3 Meritocratic narratives ............................................................................................. 156 5.2.4 Gender Narratives ..................................................................................................... 158 5.3 Moving up and fitting in - mobile accommodators ......................................................... 162 5.3.1 Strategies to ‘fit in’ .................................................................................................... 163 5.3.2 Ambivalent narratives ............................................................................................... 167 5.4 Staying true to your roots ................................................................................................ 170 5.4.1 Dis-identification with the (white) Chilean middle-class .......................................... 171 5.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 178 Chapter 6: The re-signifiers: the politicization of Mapuche identities ...................................... 181 6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 181 6.2 The social context of the re-signifiers .............................................................................. 185 6.2.1 The role of family in downplaying their Mapuche identity ...................................... 185 3 6.2.2 Family encouragement to attend university and be successful ............................... 187 6.2.3 Discrimination experiences from non-Mapuche and Mapuche ............................... 189 6.3.1 Dilemmas in framing class identities ........................................................................ 192 6.3.2 When you are not a proper Mapuche: strategies to ‘fit in’ with Mapuche culture . 195 6.4 The politicization of identities.......................................................................................... 198 6.4.1 ‘Making myself Mapuche’ ......................................................................................... 199 6.4.2 Us and them: distinction and legitimation of Mapuche identities ........................... 201 6.4.3 The politicisation of Mapuche identities .................................................................. 202 6.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 206 Chapter 7: Conclusion: The complex and entangled upward social mobility experiences of the Mapuche people ........................................................................................................................ 209