Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador

Resumen

For the past two decades Ecuador has arguably been home to Latin America’s strongest indigenous movement and most effective national-level indigenous organization. Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador places the growth of this indigenous movement in historical and comparative context, tracing the shifting engagement between indigenous peoples and the Ecuadorian state through the postindependence period. As an edited collection, it is exceptional for both the uniformly high quality of the contributions and the overall coherence of the volume. The first part moves chronologically from independence to the present day. By tracing the intertwined processes of state formation and indigenous mobilizations, the first nine chapters not only contribute to our understanding of Indian-state relations but collectively provide one of the most compelling histories of modern Ecuador. Because the case studies are so well contextualized, connected, and focused on the book’s central theme, they provide the reader with a coherent yet nuanced account of how Ecuador itself came to be.The introductory chapter by Clark and Becker provides a broad historical overview of Indian-state relations. Chapter 2, by Aleezé Sattar, explores how Indians were able to use state laws, procedures, and discourses as they navigated the period between independence and the abolition of Indian tribute in 1857. Derek Williams turns our attention to the period of conservative-Catholic rule under Gabriel García Moreno (1860 – 75) and the canton of Otavalo. Close to Quito, and populated by an indigenous population that was long seen by elites as the most promising in terms of their potential for “progress” and “civilization,” Otavalo became a key battleground in Indian-state relations and elite efforts to “turn Indians into citizens.” The next two chapters continue to examine late nineteenth-century Ecuadorian history. Erin O’Connor shows how gender was used by elites to justify racial inequality and smooth over contradictions in Indian-state relations. Michiel Baud, in turn, looks at the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and the place of indigenismo within the broader liberal project.The chapters by Clark and Becker take us through the first half of the twentieth century. Clark explores what has perhaps become the central contradiction in Indian-state relations during the modern period. How can elites access indigenous labor on behalf of state and capital and still present themselves as the protectors of Indians? Becker focuses on the Glorious May Revolution of 1944, a popular moment when the nature of the relationship between Indians and the state was discussed with a renewed sense of energy and hope. William F. Waters’s analysis of land and labor in highland Ecuador between 1950 and 1975 is an exceptionally clear and illuminating discussion of a very complicated period in Ecuadorian history. For anyone looking to get a handle on the shifting relations between Indians, landlords, and the state during the postwar period this chapter is a must read. The first part of the volume finishes where it must, with a discussion of the contemporary indigenous movement. Amalia Pallares’s chapter is exceptionally good on its own, but what makes it and the volume as a whole so successful is that the reader is able to see how the issues confronting indigenous peoples today have their origins in prior struggles.The second part of the volume moves in two different directions. Chapters by Brian Selmeski and Juliet S. Erazo fill two important gaps. Selmeski looks at one of the key sites where indigenous people and the Ecuador state interact: the military. Erazo complements the volume’s discussion of Indian-state relations in the highlands with a broad overview of indigenous organizing within the Amazon region. The remaining chapters compare the Ecuadorian indigenous movement with counterparts in Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru. All are excellent and help situate Ecuador within a broader context of indigenous organizing, ethnic conflict, nation building, and neoliberalism. The volume finishes with an immensely useful bibliographic essay by Marc Becker. It is worth the price of admission on its own.Theoretically sophisticated yet highly accessible, Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador helps us understand perhaps the region’s most successful indigenous movement within its historical and comparative context. It does this better than any other book currently available. Along the way, it offers a history of modern Ecuador that is compelling and a treatment of state formation that should be read by anyone interested in understanding postindependence Latin America.