Mujeres que “están andando”: translocalización y movilidad aymara en el norte de Chile (Región de Arica y Parinacota)

Under a critical gender perspective, this paper analyzes the mobility of Aymara women involved in translocal, intergenerational family networks who engage in livestock activities in the community of Cobija (Arica and Parinacota Region). The study introduces the local metaphor “to be walking” as a concept through which these women describe their own mobility today. Findings are based on a twelve-month qualitative case study using multisited ethnography (2022-2023) with the Cobija community, adopting a feminist perspective and employing techniques such as participant observation, informal conversations, and semi-structured interviews. The study reveals that, through this expression, these women view mobility as a “rhythm of women”—a continuous flow in which movements are not isolated events but part of a lifestyle rooted in generational memories of mobility. Furthermore, the article underscores that these indigenous women, including first-generation participants, actively engage in translocal mobility, though social factors can limit their participation. These findings contribute to research on indigenous women and Aymara mobility in northern Chile, providing fresh insights that refine the anthropological understanding of Aymara translocalization, an area where the experiences of Chilean Aymara women have been underrepresented.