Institutionalization of the South American Gran Chaco in the XXI century

Abstract

This article deals with some aspects of the regional geography of the Gran Chaco during this XXI century. Located in the center of South America, it is formed by parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. It constitutes a region which is traditionally conceived as a border land, marginal, distant and poor. The process of regional institutionalization, which was developed during this period, sought and contributed to detach the region from these misrepresentations. On the one hand, we think of regional institutionalization as a way of reincorporation, reinsertion and repositioning within national, regional and/or global contexts. On the other hand, what contributed essentially to the institutionalization was the contemporary development of a transformation process within the economic, social, environmental and geopolitical areas, which generated tensions and conflicts at all levels and sectors, therefore motivating the surge, development and activation of diverse regional identities, which reacted in different ways to that historical phenomenon. The creation of institutional spaces for debate, structuring, organization and/or resistance driven by local- regional actors, was one of its most original and unprecedented consequences. In this article, we will briefly analyze the cases of Redes Chaco and Foro de Representantes del Gran Chaco Sudamericano.