Cultural revitalization and the ontology of communicative spaces: 'Mobile coordinating' among Guaraní

Abstract

Much ICT-related cultural revitalization research in indigenous contexts concerns the production and circulation of traditional and indigenous language content matter. Drawing on ethnographic research with Guaraní communities in Tarija Department, Bolivia, this article argues for the significance of everyday, intracommunity communicative spaces to cultural revitalization. I describe how Guaraní renegotiate and delimit ICT practices -with respect to changing group norms on appropriate communication mediums- to safeguard relaxed, responsive and face-to-face communicative spaces. In the context of this research, the sentiment of togetherness reinforced by such communicative spaces was what underlay and incited cultural practices. This opens up important issues for cultural revitalization research relating to the ontology of ICT-mediated communicative spaces and the processes through which these are renegotiated and decolonized.