The discursive construction of Mapuche students regarding the Machi: racism, schooling, and evangelization

Abstract

Racism is expressed in the structure of societies and in the discursive practices of people. Among the institutions which, drawing form the processes of colonization and imperialism have contributed to consolidate racism, one finds the schools and the churches. This research aims to analyze how the concepts of racism, schooling, and evangelization are articulated in the discursive construction of Mapuche students in basic education around the figure of Machi. The first step was an action-research developed to teach about plants from an intercultural perspective, which was followed by semi-structured interviews conducted with two participants in the study. The analysis was based on the Bonilla-Silva theory, which discusses how argumentative frameworks and discursive patterns explain the structural racism. Some of the frameworks found in the investigation include cultural racism, the minimization and normalization of racism as well as the use of rhetorical strategies to validate negative culture-related accounts, such as the use of stories and testimonies. The outcome of the study lies in demonstrating how minorities still make use of a racist discourse, a product of structural racism which is reproduced by institutions such as the school and the church.