Indigenismo

The indigenous question lies at the heart of many postcolonial societies. In the Americas, indigenismo emerged in the early twentieth century to deal with the colonized indigenous population. Its chief aim was the inclusion and assimilation of the indigenous population into the project of nation‐building. But indigenismo has also managed to put the “Indian question” on the political agenda and to give it a hemispheric scope. In the 1990s, there was a re‐emergence of indigenismo in neoliberal/multicultural contexts and in critical dialogue with new powerful indigenous movements. This is related to a global dynamic of indigeneity revealed in several international organizations. Recent debates are shaped by decolonization and politics between cultural recognition and social redistribution.