Migraciones religiosas, espacio geográfico y paisaje. Colonia Menonita Nueva Esperanza, La Pampa, Argentina

Abstract

When migrations involving large family groups have the intention of settling down as a close population community, permanently occupying and taking possession of a place, they cause major changes in such place derived from the insertion of new cultural patterns in the pre-existing space. This is the case of Colonia Menonita Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Mennonite Colony) in the district of Guatraché, La Pampa province, Argentina. The members of this colony are united by a conservative religion and are organized as a community with deeply rooted customs and traditions -imposed by their religion- that they try to preserve over time. Their arrival and settlement in a rural area in La Pampa, with a settling pattern and a social and productive organization defined by very conservative rules, caused a disruption in the traditional agricultural and livestock model associated to a capitalist and agro-exporting market economy. Thus, they created a new and atypical cultural landscape immersed in the homogeneity of the Pampas.