Wrecked roads, scattered state aids, intense droughts, depopulation, and privatization looming large are commonplace nowadays up in the Chilean Andes. Mountain areas in Chile have historically faced an awkward role in processes of statecraft, modernization, and inner colonial expansion. Nowadays, degradation of the material, environmental, and social life is a common landscape up in the mountains. In this sense, the country is crossed from north to south by the Andes towards the east, in the frontier with Argentina, and by a minor mountain range - next to the ocean - to the west. Thus, the narrative of a mountainous country is more than justified. But in this symbolic game, the Andes takes a central role. The Andes are a kernel element in the craft of Chilean identity, entailing narratives of natural beauty, richness, natural resources, and power due to its monumental dimensions. However, the life of those living up in the mountains is far from ideal. While mountain life is narrated as quintessentially Chilean, mountains have been mostly a haven for outlaws, nationals dissatisfied with the country's projects, smugglers, and indigenous people resisting the State's reach, to some extent. During the 20th Century, the State claimed authority over the Andes through projects of modernization, however. The state's presence and role as a provider of citizenship or welfare is, to date, a barely perceived one.
In this presentation, we explore the relationships between people, animals, and the State in Chile's Central Andes, by analyzing what is the role and place of the State up in the mountain. Through an exploration of public servants and their relationship with mountain communities, we delve into the expectations, actions, and infrapolitical arrangements that produce the idea and presence of a bare-State for many of those up in the mountains
