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Topic · Anthropology

Indigenous Cultures and History

Indigenous Cultures and History is a research topic within Anthropology. Science Explorer counts 8.5k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the complex interactions between indigenous peoples and the state, focusing on issues such as land rights, cultural identity, social exclusion, and the impact of state policies on indigenous communities. It delves into colonial history, frontier studies, and ethnographic research to understand the experiences of indigenous peoples at the national margins in Latin America.

  • Indigenous Peoples
  • State Policies
  • Frontier Studies
  • Ethnographic Research
  • Cultural Identity
  • Colonial History
  • Land Rights
  • Social Exclusion
  • Memory and Identity
  • Ethnic Politics
Research works
8.5k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
846
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Argentina
42% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Indigenous Cultures and History

Which countries lead Indigenous Cultures and History research?

By volume, Argentina and Brazil publish the most (606 and 152 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Argentina 606 works
  2. 2 Brazil 152 works
  3. 3 Mexico 142 works
  4. 4 Chile 114 works
  5. 5 Spain 107 works
  6. 6 United States 106 works
  7. 7 Colombia 70 works
  8. 8 France 61 works
  9. 9 Peru 59 works
  10. 10 Ecuador 26 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Argentina: 42.0%Brazil: 10.5%Mexico: 9.8%Chile: 7.9%6 others listed: 29.7%42%largest
Argentina606 · 42.0%Brazil152 · 10.5%Mexico142 · 9.8%Chile114 · 7.9%6 others listed429 · 29.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Indigenous Cultures and History research?

By volume in 2022-now, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas publishes the most Indigenous Cultures and History research, followed by Universidad de Buenos Aires and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 181 works
  2. 2 Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 86 works
  3. 3 Universidad Nacional de CórdobaArgentina 32 works
  4. 4 Universidad Nacional de La PlataArgentina 32 works
  5. 5 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 26 works
  6. 6 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 24 works
  7. 7 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico 22 works
  8. 8 National University of Río NegroArgentina 20 works
  9. 9 National University of RosarioArgentina 15 works
  10. 10 Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología SocialMexico 15 works

What are the most cited papers in Indigenous Cultures and History?

The most cited paper in Indigenous Cultures and History is "The Logic of Clientelism in Argentina: An Ethnographic Account" (Javier Auyero, 2000), with 470 citations. Next come "Historia del Tahuantinsuyu" (312) and "The Politics of Discursive Authority in Research on the “Invention of Tradition”" (303).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Logic of Clientelism in Argentina: An Ethnographic Account Javier Auyero · Latin American Research Review Open access 2000 470
2 Historia del Tahuantinsuyu Michael Eugene Moseley · Hispanic American Historical Review Open access Feb 1990 312
3 The Politics of Discursive Authority in Research on the “Invention of Tradition” Charles L. Briggs · Cultural Anthropology Open access Nov 1996 303
4 The Territorial Turn: Making Black Territories in Pacific Colombia Karl H. Offen · Journal of Latin American geography Open access 2003 243
5 Girling the girl and boying the boy: the production of adulthood in ancient Mesoamerica Rosemary A. Joyce · World Archaeology 2000 241
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Indigenous Cultures and History research done?

The largest centres of Indigenous Cultures and History research in 2022-now are Buenos Aires (Argentina), Mexico City (Mexico), Madrid (Spain) and Santiago (Chile).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 Buenos AiresArgentina 256 works
  2. 2 Mexico CityMexico 69 works
  3. 3 MadridSpain 50 works
  4. 4 SantiagoChile 49 works
  5. 5 CórdobaArgentina 41 works
  6. 6 La PlataArgentina 35 works
  7. 7 BogotáColombia 31 works
  8. 8 LimaPeru 28 works
  9. 9 ParisFrance 28 works
  10. 10 San Miguel de TucumánArgentina 27 works
See Indigenous Cultures and History on the map

Where is the best place to study Indigenous Cultures and History?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Tarapacá, National University of Tucumán and Universidad de Buenos Aires score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 12.15%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →National University …University of TarapacáUniversidad de Bueno…National University …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of TarapacáChile 63.510.8%158.9×13 +59.5%
2National University of TucumánArgentina 57.931.6%200.4×11 -18.0%
3Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 53.06.2%149.9×86 -32.9%
4National University of Río NegroArgentina 44.85.5%585.0×20 +27.8%
5Universidad Nacional de ColombiaColombia 42.813.0%25.3×12 +8.4%
6Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileChile 42.711.1%24.8×11 -20.4%
7Universidad Nacional de La PlataArgentina 41.710.5%116.2×32 -29.2%
8Universidad de la República de UruguayUruguay 40.414.4%23.0×8 -25.0%
9Universidad Nacional de CórdobaArgentina 37.04.3%128.4×32 -25.1%
10University of ChileChile 36.614.1%22.3×11 -29.6%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Indigenous Cultures and History, country by country

Is Indigenous Cultures and History research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2020.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Indigenous Cultures and History as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0068% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%Indigenous Cultures and History0.0061% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Indigenous Cultures and History over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Indigenous Cultures and History10.3% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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