The spaces in between: Constitutive moments and taypi in Latin America

Abstract

In recent years, the Latin American left has achieved important electoral and social successes. Meanwhile, far-right movements across the continent have also come back from the brink, transformed from fringe political phenomena to powerful political vehicles capable of dictating political discourse and policies.  In his article Harnessing the Storm: Constitutive moments and taypi in Latin America, Angus McNelly (2022) proposes to search for and to create openings for different futures and political alternatives out of the contradictions of capitalism on a regional scale with a focus on transformative movements. Connecting to McNelly’s reading of Rivera and Zavaleta, I put forward the concept of taypi by Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui. Taypi is the centre of a woven pattern, which she uses as a metaphor for a site of friction in between ch’ixi spaces and societies. Taypi allows us to interrogate both the creative as well as destructive potential that results from lo abigarrado and ch’ixi formations in Latin America – including authoritarian and far-right tendencies as part of the constitutive moments. I argue that focussing on taypi—regardless of the scope we seek to analyse—draws attention to the organisation that takes place on the ground in both its productive and destructive potential. I conclude that seeking constitutive moments, ch’ixi spaces and taypi across Latin America makes for a fruitful research agenda.