GAUGING FRONTIERS. A COMPARATIVE STUDY ABOUT CONCEPTUALIZATION OF FRONTIERS IN TWO CASE STUDIES IN ANDEAN NORTH PATAGONIA

Abstract

This article presents two case studies related to Andean North Patagonia that reveal the theoretical and methodological potential of the concept of Border in the analysis of complex realities. Both cases refer to the border area between southwest Río Negro and northwest Chubut. In the first one, from the perspective of regional history, the economic relations in the region of the Nahuel Huapi since the last decades of the nineteenth century until the early twentieth century are discussed. The other case refers to the Comarca Andina of Paralelo 42 where, from an anthropological interest in ethnic identity processes, we analyze the dialectical relationship between certain economic practices and certain frontierization processes.