{"id":857,"global_id":"research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network?id=857","global_id_lineage":["research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network?id=857"],"author":"291","status":"publish","date":"2026-03-30 13:38:55","date_utc":"2026-03-30 12:38:55","modified":"2026-03-30 15:56:40","modified_utc":"2026-03-30 14:56:40","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/event\/resisting-dispossession-indigenous-ontologies-and-more-than-human-care-in-the-wallmapu-by-dr-cristian-alister-sanhueza\/","rest_url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/events\/857","title":"Resisting Dispossession: Indigenous Ontologies and More-than-Human Care in the Wallmapu by Dr Cristian Alister Sanhueza","description":"

Abstract:<\/strong> This presentation explores how Indigenous Mapuche communities in southern Chile reconfigure resistance to extractivist expansion through practices that foreground more-than-human relations of care and coexistence. Drawing on the framework of accumulation by dispossession (Harvey) and decolonial perspectives on ontology and territory, the paper situates current struggles in the Wallmapu as responses not only to material dispossession but also to ontological erasure. Through collaborative research grounded in public sociology and participatory mapping, the study documents emerging territorial networks where rivers, forests, and nonhuman beings are recognized as active participants in political life. These collective practices\u2014ranging from community monitoring of environmental degradation to rituals of reciprocity and local economies of care\u2014reveal an alternative cosmopolitics that contests the extractivist logic of separation between nature and society. The analysis argues that these more-than-human alliances are not merely symbolic; they constitute a living infrastructure of resistance and re existence that sustains both ecological and cultural survival. By engaging Indigenous worldings that blur the boundaries between human and nonhuman, the presentation contributes to the broader conversation on more-than human rights, relational ethics, and ecocentric governance. It invites reflection on how forms of resistance emerging from the Wallmapu resonate with planetary struggles for environmental justice and earthly flourishing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cristian Alister Sanhueza<\/strong> is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the Universidad de La Frontera (Chile). His academic background combines computer engineering, sociology, and a PhD in Intercultural Studies, shaping an interdisciplinary approach to socio-environmental research, science and technology studies, and territorial governance.<\/p>\n

His academic specialization lies in the study of socio-environmental conflicts, extractivism, and labor precarity, with a particular focus on agro-industrial and forestry activities in southern Chile. Across his research experience, he has contributed to multiple FONDECYT-funded projects in different roles, primarily as a research assistant, developing expertise in qualitative analysis, territorial studies, and the socio-technical dimensions of environmental and development processes.<\/p>\n

Currently, his work focuses on participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental governance, including citizen-generated data, low-cost sensing technologies, and the co-production of knowledge with local and Indigenous communities. He is a co-investigator in two ongoing FONDECYT projects: Technopolitics and democracy: agents, networks, and contested discourses in contemporary Chile<\/em> (2025\u20132028), and Indigenous peoples, new digital technologies, and the environment: emerging regulatory frameworks from a precautionary human rights hermeneutics<\/em> (2026\u20132029). In parallel, he is currently implementing a SIA\u2013ANID project, which supports the consolidation of his research agenda on socio-technical controversies, environmental governance, and territorial conflicts.<\/p>","excerpt":"","slug":"resisting-dispossession-indigenous-ontologies-and-more-than-human-care-in-the-wallmapu-by-dr-cristian-alister-sanhueza","image":{"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/268\/2026\/03\/Cristian-Alister-Sanhueza.png","id":856,"extension":"png","width":411,"height":426,"filesize":389652,"sizes":{"medium":{"width":289,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":174708,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/268\/2026\/03\/Cristian-Alister-Sanhueza-289x300.png"},"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":45405,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/268\/2026\/03\/Cristian-Alister-Sanhueza-150x150.png"},"sow-carousel-default":{"width":272,"height":182,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":103163,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/268\/2026\/03\/Cristian-Alister-Sanhueza-272x182.png"}}},"all_day":false,"start_date":"2026-04-22 12:00:00","start_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"04","day":"22","hour":"12","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"end_date":"2026-04-22 13:00:00","end_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"04","day":"22","hour":"13","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"utc_start_date":"2026-04-22 11:00:00","utc_start_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"04","day":"22","hour":"11","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"utc_end_date":"2026-04-22 12:00:00","utc_end_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"04","day":"22","hour":"12","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"timezone":"Europe\/London","timezone_abbr":"BST","cost":"","cost_details":{"currency_symbol":"","currency_code":"","currency_position":"prefix","values":[]},"website":"","show_map":true,"show_map_link":true,"hide_from_listings":false,"sticky":false,"featured":false,"categories":[],"tags":[],"venue":{"id":858,"author":"291","status":"publish","date":"2026-03-30 13:38:56","date_utc":"2026-03-30 12:38:56","modified":"2026-03-30 13:38:56","modified_utc":"2026-03-30 12:38:56","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/venue\/mathematics-room-304\/","venue":"Mathematics Room 304","slug":"mathematics-room-304","address":"Mathematics Building","city":"Reading","country":"United Kingdom","province":"Berkshire","zip":"RG6 6AX","stateprovince":"Berkshire","json_ld":{"@type":"Place","name":"Mathematics Room 304","description":"","url":"","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"Mathematics Building","addressLocality":"Reading","addressRegion":"Berkshire","postalCode":"RG6 6AX","addressCountry":"United Kingdom"},"telephone":"","sameAs":""},"show_map":true,"show_map_link":true,"global_id":"research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network?id=858","global_id_lineage":["research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network?id=858"]},"organizer":[{"id":859,"author":"291","status":"publish","date":"2026-03-30 13:38:56","date_utc":"2026-03-30 12:38:56","modified":"2026-03-30 13:38:56","modified_utc":"2026-03-30 12:38:56","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/organiser\/oscar-martinez-alvarado\/","organizer":"Oscar Martinez-Alvarado","slug":"oscar-martinez-alvarado","phone":"+44(0)118 378 8951","email":"o.martinezalvarado@reading.ac.uk","json_ld":{"@type":"Person","name":"Oscar Martinez-Alvarado","description":"","url":"","telephone":"+44(0)118 378 8951","email":"o.martinezalvarado@reading.ac.uk","sameAs":""},"global_id":"research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network?id=859","global_id_lineage":["research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network?id=859"]}],"json_ld":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Event","name":"Resisting Dispossession: Indigenous Ontologies and More-than-Human Care in the Wallmapu by Dr Cristian Alister Sanhueza","description":"<p>Abstract: This presentation explores how Indigenous Mapuche communities in southern Chile reconfigure resistance to extractivist expansion through practices that foreground more-than-human relations of care and coexistence. Drawing on the framework...<a class="read-more" href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/latin-america-caribbean-network/event/resisting-dispossession-indigenous-ontologies-and-more-than-human-care-in-the-wallmapu-by-dr-cristian-alister-sanhueza/">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\\n","image":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/268\/2026\/03\/Cristian-Alister-Sanhueza.png","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/latin-america-caribbean-network\/event\/resisting-dispossession-indigenous-ontologies-and-more-than-human-care-in-the-wallmapu-by-dr-cristian-alister-sanhueza\/","eventAttendanceMode":"https:\/\/schema.org\/OfflineEventAttendanceMode","startDate":"2026-04-22T12:00:00+01:00","endDate":"2026-04-22T13:00:00+01:00","location":{"@type":"Place","name":"Mathematics Room 304","description":"","url":"","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"Mathematics Building","addressLocality":"Reading","addressRegion":"Berkshire","postalCode":"RG6 6AX","addressCountry":"United Kingdom"},"telephone":"","sameAs":""},"organizer":{"@type":"Person","name":"Oscar Martinez-Alvarado","description":"","url":"","telephone":"+44(0)118 378 8951","email":"o.martinezalvarado@reading.ac.uk","sameAs":""},"performer":"Organization"}}