Identity on the border

IDENTITY ON THE BORDER

The topic of the research focuses on how to live or not in a political-administrative border affects the identities of people, even tough their lives are often divided between the spaces they live; depending on the needs they have and the opportunities offered to satisfy them.

For that reason, the intention of the research is to observe how the people live and how they identify each other in the border; with special emphasis on the way people build and maintain their identities, baring in mind that this is closely connected to the places where they live. Likewisewith the story, the imaginary and the different perceptions they have.

From above we think about the role played by the border in the daily life of villagers and we observe that this transcends administrative building into a new symbolic form.

In this specific case we will take a concerned village called San Ignacio, wich is part of Guarne since 1999, as previously belonged to a corregimiento of the city of Medellín (Santa Elena). Both places located in the department of Antioquia, Colombia.

There is a close relationship between the vereda and Santa Elena since they share a rich tradition in the region, which consists on the construction of silletas. They also share the history as well as economic and social activities. This situation places San Ignacio not only in a geographical border, but also on a cultural and identitary one.