On Indigeneity, Change, and Representation in the Northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon

Abstract

Neoliberal reforms throughout Latin America are intended to promote development by opening up economies and encouraging market-oriented practices. These reforms have deeply affected the lives of indigenous peoples and their relationship with extralocal actors. Today, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, some indigenous peoples participate in oil-extraction negotiations, tourism, and intensive cattle ranching and agriculture as part of increased market integration. In the midst of these changes, questions about what ‘indigeneity’ means, both in integrating into and in resisting neoliberal reforms, are increasingly important for understanding social justice and environmental conservation issues in the Amazon region. The author explores how engagement with neoliberal practices and ways of knowing the world has opened up spaces for questioning fixed notions of indigenous identities and their role in representing, imagining, and developing indigenous alliances and rights claims in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Indigenous Land Use in the Ecuadorian Amazon: A Cross-cultural and Multilevel Analysis

“…These activities have often been shown, under conditions of isolation from external markets and low population density, to have neutral or even positive impacts on biodiversity (Andrade and Rubio-Torgler 1994;Kleinman et al 1995;Pulido and Caballero 2006). However, in the contemporary context of frontier expansion and associated market opportunities, some indigenous households and communities have also adopted market-oriented livelihood strategies, including wage labor, tourism, commercial agriculture, and the sale of timber and other forest products (Behrens et al 1994;Godoy et al 2005b;Hammond et al 1995;Perreault 2005;Sierra et al 1999;Valdivia 2005;Wunder 2000;Zimmerman et al 2001). Where market-oriented agricultural activities have been established they often parallel the land uses of mestizo colonists (though on a smaller scale), and may include cash cropping, raising cattle, shortened fallow times, and the use of chemical inputs, activities which raise questions about the long-term sustainability of indigenous management of forested territories.…”

“…The Cofán have resisted oil exploration in their territories and actively participated in conservation programs (Townsend et al 2005;Valdivia 2005). The Secoya (and the linguistically related Siona) number approximately 800 people and live along the Aguarico River and its tributaries in the central and eastern NEA.…”

Empowerment through articulations between post-neoliberal politics and neoliberalism: value chain alliances in Bolivia

“…The PAR intervention facilitates the search for solutions by the poor themselves and promotes individual "self-governance" crucial for neoliberal governance or "governmentality" (Lemke 2001;Foucault 2010). Neoliberal governance emphasises technocratic administration in which the proper functioning of the market and "good governance" of the state depend on and contribute to forming empowered "entrepreneurs of themselves" (Lemke 2001;Valdivia 2005). This new way of exercising power is not practised from the top down, but from within society.…”

Neoliberalism and the Biophysical Environment: A Synthesis and Evaluation of the Research

“…The rights and revenues enjoyed by First Nations Alaskans, she shows, are consistent with their sense of themselves as distinct community with historical and cultural claims to a share of the fishery, and in need of monies to address poverty and to underpin socio-economic development. Relatedly, Valdivia (2004) examines the way neoliberal reform measures in the Ecuadorian Amazon have affected indigenous people's discourse in respect of land and other resources. She reports a creative, complex engagement with neoliberal principles and ideas, allowing indigenous peoples to adapt their claims and agendas to changing political economic circumstances.…”

“…neoliberal ideals articulated in books such as The road to serfdom (von Hayek, 1944), The constitution of liberty (von Hayek, 1960) and Capitalism and freedom (Friedman, 1962) accented two things. First, the state's role was to maximise the independence of both real and institutional-juridical individuals: anything less would be anti-liberal, a travesty of 'true freedom'.…”