Antropología Cuadernos de Investigación

Tema: la política de la antropología a la antropología de lo político

2024-04-12T00:00:49+00:00

Intercultural relations, political profiles and the construction of what is valuable in the north of Esmeraldas: An ethnographic approach

2024-04-15T00:29:22+00:00

For the Chachi and Afro-Ecuadorian people of the Cayapas, the configuration of what is morally valuable is constructed through a series of experiences. In these experiences, the connection of the self, -as the construction of oneself-, with the collective unconscious, -as the provider of the archetypical raw material for the apprehension of the environment-, leads to actions aimed at thriving politically, ethically, and economically. Hence, moralities, as repertoires of action and grammars of constructing what is valuable, can also transform into economic actions and decisions about the environment with significant density and political weight.
This work explores interculturality as a form of interethnic convergences contextualized; the constant reactualization of the land’s ancestry, as a category that brings into interaction religious, economic, and organizational components, which endow the decisions made by individuals transformed into men and women of politics with various meanings.

Reflections on the decision-making processes and legitimacy in the Panzaleo Salache San José Kichwa community. Another perspective to understand democracy

2024-04-12T00:00:53+00:00

This article analyzes the decision-making processes and the legitimation of collective decisions in Panzaleo Salache San José kichwa community´s daily life to approach the understanding democracy. Methodologically, an ethnographic study was conducted between March and October 2021, carrying out participant observation in an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian highlands (Cotopaxi); additionally, interviews with community leaders were conducted. To understand the implications of community democracy, it was essential to approach the cultural meanings and worldviews of the Andean world regarding the collective, where this communal way of exercising democracy makes sense. The hypothesis suggests that community democracy is the basis of social organization in the day-to-day life of indigenous communities and is applied for decision-making in all aspects of daily life.

Institutionality, Disillusionment and Potemkin Politics

2024-04-12T00:00:51+00:00

This article critically analyzes the narrative about the State legitimacy´s crisis in Ecuador and the topic of deinstitutionalization. The loss of illusions´ trajectory is examined about the capacity of different ideological streams to establish a consolidated and lasting legitimacy over the last 30 years. It is argued that, -in good part-, this theme is based on a mirage and that Ecuador maintains a very strong and rooted institutional structure, but it is unrecognizable and unpresentable for the individuals. An attempt is made to characterize this institutionality “in the shadow” and the causes of its roots and the impossibility of transcending it effectively, with an alternative State model, are explored. Finally, we try to describe the reasons why it maintains its stability in the long historical term and what could be the arenas in which the political struggle for alternatives would be established, as well as their potential ways of becoming viable.

Messy hair and sloppy words

2024-04-12T00:00:51+00:00

In some contemporary politicians, disruptive gestures and speeches are detected with what could be considered correct behavior. Courtesy and sobriety are being replaced by discursive forms that communicate a cultural rupture. Is this a minor symptom or are disheveled politicians with disorderly speeches expressing something deeper? Polite forms of political behavior have a complex history closely related to everyday customs. Understanding this relationship in political culture can constitute an interesting starting point to interpret the current changes in certain stories and especially to detect some elements of interpretation of what some sectors call the “cultural war.”

The Shuar birth: between being born at home or being born in the hospital

2024-04-12T00:00:50+00:00

This article analizes the relationship between the biomedical system and the Shuar through the itineraries of Shuar women around childbirth. The purpose is to understand the scope and limitations of the systems. The research was carried out in the Sucúa Canton -Province of Morona Santiago-. The analysis period included from 2012 to 2014, years after the promulgation of the policy on “culturally appropriate childbirth” in 2008. In this qualitative research, the methodology used was inscribed in the relational analysis between health models, under the criteria of hegemony/subalternity. In addition, the gender approach was used to apply to the institutional articulation - health units - and the women who attended those units. The techniques used were the semi-structured interview carried out with Shuar men and women; as well as the observation of births. The research confirmed that Shuar women, although they prefer their system, also use the biomedical services to solve their health problems. Furthermore, it was concluded that public policy tends to advance institutional birth over home birth or the own system.

Entrevistas a Mercedes Prieto y Tannia Mendizabal sobre política y antropología en Ecuador

2024-04-12T03:23:53+00:00

Miradas de resistencia: Crónica de la lucha en Ecuador

2024-04-12T00:00:50+00:00