Territorial Coalitions and Rural Dynamics in Ecuador. Why History Matters

Abstract

This paper analyzes the extent to which transformative territorial coalitions can deliberately change the exclusive structures that afflict rural territories in Latin America. A historical comparison of three rural territorial dynamics in Ecuador demonstrates that deliberate planning is not necessary to promote an inclusive and equitable economic dynamic if a long historical process has created favorable territorial social structures. When territories do not have such social structures, they are more likely to require a strong exogenous shock to create a new and inclusive economic organization.

Imagining the Good Place: Public Services and Family Strategies in Rural Ecuador

“…Further, by looking across scales and dimensions we strove to reach that “awkward scale” of articulating the particularity of the local within larger forces (Comaroff and Comaroff ). We also rely on our almost 40‐year relationships to help us situate our narrators and their family strategies within both their local context and the larger rural territorial dynamics at play (Ospina Peralta and Hollenstein ; Toth, Brown, and Xu ). By elevating the voices of individuals, embedded in family and community networks, we are able to “see” residents in these peripheral communities and understand how they negotiate within and between the scales in which they live.…”

“…Recent work on rural territorial dynamics emphasizes the importance of five factors: shared ownership of the means of production, access to regional markets, city investments in the rural hinterland, local connections and intersectoral diversification, and public investment in infrastructure (Berdegué et al ). Rural territorial dynamics theory can be used to help us understand the unique historical development process in the province of Tungurahua, Ecuador, and explain how a territorial coalition at the local and regional scales emerged after the economic crisis of the 1990s to guide public investment in the province (Hollenstein and Ospina Peralta ; Ospina Peralta and Hollenstein ).…”

“…We find they ground buen vivir in place by calling for a balanced approach to development that includes human capital, economic opportunity, and expanded choice integrated with environment and culture. Rural scholars have emphasized the importance of access and control over resources to ensure self‐sufficient agriculture and food sovereignty as an alternative to commodification (Peña ; Van der Ploeg ), but we extend our analysis beyond agriculture to show how being rooted in place enables rural residents to engage in multiple community capitals and territorial dynamics (Flora and Flora ; Ospina Peralta and Hollenstein ). By looking at family strategies within place, we explore the intersection of scales—from micro (family) to meso (community and region), to macro (national and global).…”

“…We look outward from the microscale of family strategies rather than using a top‐down view of service delivery. We show how individuals rely on and build community capital (Flora and Flora ; Ospina Peralta and Hollenstein ), at times in partnership with government, and at times by themselves, to make real the substantive freedoms articulated in Sen’s () human capabilities approach. By using a life history model (Behar ; Waterston and Rylko‐Bauer ), combined with collaborative ethnography, we situate the family at the center, allowing us to see people as agents, making decisions and choices influenced by structural forces at the meso‐ and macroscales.…”

“…We expand on Bronfenbrenner’s () human ecological framework to explore links between the microscale (family), the mesoscale (community and regional), and the macroscale (national and global). We also incorporate the human capabilities framework (Sen ) with a community capitals approach (Flora and Flora ) to understand how flows occur across these scales in a process of rural territorial dynamics that supports both economic growth and social inclusion (Berdegué, Bebbington, and Escobal ; Escobal et al ; Ospina Peralta and Hollenstein ). The article gives specific attention to the links between individual and family development trajectories and community well‐being.…”