The Dynamics of Movement and Exchange: Kinship, Politics and Shamanism among the Guarani

Abstract

This project combines three levels of investigation: one ethnographic, another methodological and one of theoretical aim. In terms of ethnographic research, the project seeks to describe the dynamics of circulation among the Guarani. In this regard, kinship, politics and shamanism, as well as the relations among these three realms of Guarani social life, offer privileged conditions for the observation and the understanding of such dynamics. The dynamics of circulation involve spatial movement and exchange relations that entail moments and experiences of concentration and flux. This project takes the ethnography of the Guarani Mbya as a strategic starting point, while endeavoring to combine such material with ethnographic information concerning the Guarani Kaiowa and Nhandeva. In methodological terms, the project attempts to verify the extent to which a joint study of spatial movement and exchange relations enables the understanding of the formation and transformation of the regional system shaped by the Guarani. In addition, this project aims to contribute to classic and recent theoretical problems and approaches concerning the study of regional systems.