¿Segregación o asimilación? La política indiana en América meridional a fines del período colonial

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the cultural basis of some legal measures taken by the crown focusing on the construction of hegemonic images of the State, articulated to the ones of the native population. In 1768 the Jesuits were expelled from the guaraní towns of the «Jesuit Province of Paraguay». For over 150 years these Reducciones were coherent with an indigenous segregation policy promoted by the Indian legislation. The new government applied a series of measures reinforcing the state´s images breaking the previous segregation paradigm and definining a political tendency for the assimilation of the native population in colonial the society.