Ethnic difference, potentialities and good-living in “indigenous communication”. case study of the “weaving Pijao thought” group (Tolima, Colombia)

Abstract

With a history of two decades, "indigenous communication" for good living has become a central field of reflection in Latin America. This article addresses its main debates, approaches and conceptual contributions, emphasizing its differential elements compared to “Western communication. Through an interpretive-comparative model, and having collaborative ethnography and semi-structured interviews as empirical references, the article analyzes the experience of “Tejiendo Thought Pijao”, an “Indigenous Communication” group located in the department of Tolima (Colombia). It is concluded that "indigenous communication [Pijao]" integrates differential elements into its communicative processes from those of "Western communication"; These elements are related to their cosmogony, where "non-human" communicative actants are considered as subjects with communicative agency, which is why they affect the dynamics of the community, especially with regard to the defense of ancestral territories. It is also established that "indigenous communication [Pijao]" is structurally related to the Pijaos organizational pillars, distancing itself from the "objectivist, hyper-technological and massive" perspective of "Western communication" typical of the modern-colonial world.