Work, socio-territorial organization, popular economy and identity processes: The case of the Pancho Soares and Zomo Newen pro¬ductive units in the district of Tigre

Abstract

This article examines how social actors in the popular economy, specifically those engaged in family agriculture within the district of Tigre, organize their work, commercialization, and political participation around a shared collective identity. We argue that socio-productive organization is crucial to defining each productive unit, which are characterized by a strong orientation toward political demands. In Tigre, two family agriculture productive units are analyzed in two different locations: the “Zomo Newen” (meaning women’s force in the Mapuche language) productive unit in General Pacheco, and the “Pancho Soares” orchard center in Tigre, named in tribute to a priest killed during the civil-military dictatorship of 1976–1983. Within the district of Tigre, we will take as the object of analysis two productive units of family farming in two different locations: the town of General Pacheco where the productive unit “Zomo Newen” (women's force in the Mapuche language) is located and in Tigre, the orchard center. “Pancho Soares” (name that refers to the priest murdered during the last civil-military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983).