Above and Below: The Irredeemable Power of State and Tribal Imaginaries in the Shaping of Andes and Amazonia

Abstract

This article examines the Andes/Amazonia divide as the product of longue durée historical relations. It is argued that this split is not a recent phenomenon linked to the construction of South American nation-states but precedes the Spanish conquest of America for several millennia. It has little to do with ecology and much to do with power and political philosophies. It is the result of the clash between two opposing ideals of sociality and power, which find expression in antithetical social imaginaries. Whereas Andean state societies viewed Amazonia as a dark and mystically powerful “tribal zone”, the egalitarian societies of Upper Amazonia viewed the Andes as a land of evil, full of technological wonders but perilous for the consolidation of a harmonious social life. This confrontation can be understood as one pitting “states” against “tribes” and should be traced to the emergence of the first state formations in the Andes around 2000BC. One should be cautious, however, not to grant these ideological representations more power than they really had. The text argues that although Andean and Amazonian indigenous peoples represented each other as savage and primitive Others, abundant evidence exists that the interaction between them was permanent, intensive, and fruitful.