This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Wilson, P. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Neoliberalism, Indigeneity and Social Engineering in Ecuador's Amazon

University of Lethbridge, patrick.wilson{at}uleth.ca

This article examines a state-sponsored hacienda invasion by indigenous people in Amazonian Ecuador in the context of neoliberal state restructuring and decentralization. Studies have demonstrated how neoliberal reforms limit the delivery of social services by the state, but in the case examined, the municipal government offered increased access to basic infrastructural and social services to residents of the new community and encouraged the land invasion. This may indicate shifts in neoliberal policy in parts of Ecuador, where decentralization is accompanied by promises of enhanced state services. I argue, however, that Ecuador's changing neoliberal agenda may provide new mechanisms for state control in Amazonia while reinforcing enduring racist ideologies of modernizing nationalism.

Key Words: Amazon • Andes • decentralization • Ecuador • indigeneity • modernizing racisms • neoliberalism • state—society relations

Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 28, No. 2, 127-144 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0308275X08090547


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?