Abstract

GONZALEZ MIRANDA, Sergio  and  GONZALEZ PIZARRO, Sergio A.. The Border that Fades and Hardens Itself. The Space of Saltpeter Influence and the Cross-border Flows Between Chile-Bolivia (1880-1930). Rev Cien Cult [online]. 2020, vol.24, n.44, pp.119-145. ISSN 2077-3323.

The saltpeter industry that was introduced following the caliche deposits located on the Atacama Desert (Tarapaca and Antofagasta regions) -from the middle of the 19^th century- produced cross-border flows of goods and people that, allowed by the nation-states of Bolivia and Chile, convert it into a porous border during the peak of that industry. This phenomenon made possible the creation of a "salpeter space" from a pole of industrial attraction, and the cross-border links created an "space of influence". The article analizes the cross-border flows, where cultural goods were moved -traditional and modern- allowing the presence of an heterotopic space on the Atacama Desert. The border was characterized by dendritic lines (routes, roads, paths, trails, railways, etc.) until the great crisis (1914, 1919 and 1930) and the return of Bolivian people from the saltpeter pampas, when the border is closed (for good) and hardens, becoming a geopolitical border.

Keywords : Cross-border flows; saltpeter space; border limit; space of influence; pole of attraction.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )