La misión de la máquina. Técnica, extractivismo y conversión en las tierras bajas sudamericanas

The so-called South American "lowlands" remained relatively marginal to the orbit of the global market until the end of the 19th century, when industries such as rubber, timber, sugar or yerba mate articulated them with a technified capitalism of a purely extractivist nature. This incorporation went hand in hand with the colonization of indigenous territory, the consolidation of the borders of the new nation-states and various missionary waves dedicated to the evangelization and "civilization" of the indigenous population. In this context, the machines, as well as the techniques and knowledge that they imply, are presented as a fundamental vector for the development of extractive capital, and constitute a mediating device to articulate extractivist capital with the neocolonial states, the various missionary projects and the indigenous societies that until then had remained autonomous from the external society. If the missionary action contributed to shape territories, ethnic boundaries, economic structures or political affiliations, these processes revolved around a material device strongly mediated by mechanical action. What then were the machines of the mission? What repercussions did they have on local productive techniques, the organization of work, the construction of gender and social relations, more abstract conceptions of space, time and causality, and even on native sensibilities and aesthetics themselves? And what happened to these machines, tools and knowledge when, for various reasons, the missionaries withdrew or withdrew from indigenous territories?