Decolonizing Patagonia: Mapuche Peoples and State Formation in Argentina by Lucas Savino (review)

readers on a theoretically rich journey that explores the collective identities of Indigenous communities in Argentina. His ethnographic research focuses on Mapuche peoples in the Argentine province of Neuquén. His theoretical framework is grounded in discourses surrounding Indigenous autonomy and neoliberal multiculturalism. In situating his ethnography within this framework, he argues that Indigenous collective identities are formed through struggles and adaptions to the formation of the neoliberal state. In many instances, the Mapuche identity is shaped by outright anti-state expressions. In others, there is negotiation and collaboration with the state that also serves to mold the collective identity of the Mapuche. Savino allows for some extrapolation, but for the most part his findings are, appropriately, confined to the Mapuche in Neuquén. To the extent that extrapolation is appropriate, Savino’s argument is specific to contexts in which Indigenous groups constitute a significant minority of the population. As he points out, in this case, “[O]nly around 2.4 percent of the population in Argentina self-identifies as Indigenous” (p. 6). These numbers are regionally specific in Argentina, however, hence the need for localized ethnography. The Mapuche comprise 15 percent of the population of Neuquén province. Savino stresses the importance of an Lucas Savino Decolonizing Patagonia: Mapuche Peoples and State Formation in Argentina. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022. xii + 178 pp. References, index. $100 hardcover (ISBN 978-17936-3021-6); $45.00 e-book (ISBN 978-1-7936-3022-3).