Theoretical-methodological reflections about the research process with mapuche people in Chile

Abstract

This article proposes a theoretical-methodological reflection, drawing from social psychology, on the challenges involved in the research process with indigenous population, particularly with people belonging to the Mapuche indigenous group. We emphasize the ethical, theoretical challenges and methodological tensions that emerge due to the hegemonic forms of knowledge production of psychology, which are framed within postcolonial logics, which privilege the Western perspective over that of indigenous peoples and, at the same time, when implemented, reproduce practices of domination and racialization that have their origin in the colonial past. Finally, we propose a reflection with the aim to rethink our relationships with the participants and our investigative practices from a decolonial perspective.