The importance of agricultural mediation (mediería) as a cooperation mechanism within the contemporary rural Mapuche economy in the context of the Valentín Marín community of Nueva Imperial, IX Región, Chile

Abstract

The following article presents the results of a qualitative social research on the role of agricultural mediation in the current rural Mapuche economy in the context of the community Valentin Marin of the commune of Nueva Imperial. This article begins by identifying, from the point of view of the local actor, the main economic and social conditions that the Mapuche economies present in the sector. These factors affect the emergence of cooperation based on mediation. Secondly, the aim is to determine the importance of sociocultural factors in the organization of these forms of agricultural production, highlighting the role of trust as a cultural mechanism. Thirdly, they characterize the ways of organizing production based on sharecropping, considering the production of cereals, lupine and potatoes, the most developed crops in the community. Fourthly, the impact of this form of work is addressed within
the local family economy, highlighting its multifunctionality. In the discussion, in light of the results of this work, the main assumptions and approaches that different authors have elaborated to understand this form of agricultural work are problematized. The instrumental character of the mediario is highlighted as a mechanism that benefits both partners, highlighting the heterogeneity of ways to organize the sharecropping. One of the conclusions is that perhaps this form of cooperative work has intensified in the sector studied, due to the emergence of new economic conditions for the Mapuche economies.