This thesis examines the concept of the indigenous community in Saraguro, Ecuador. I explore the myriad and co-existing ideas of community and community participation at the local level, focusing on two of the defining practices of community integration: monthly assemblies and communal labour parties. Acknowledging the role of the state in the production of local communities, the historical and contemporary relations between highland Ecuadorian indigenous communities and the state are examined in an effort to contextualize the importance placed on communities as autonomous spaces. Centering around a nationwide indigenous-led protest in May of 2010, ideas of mestizaje, modernization, historical fears of the Indian, and community justice are discussed to help analyze the continuously negotiated boundary between indigenous communities and the nation-state. Finally, competing conceptualizations of indigeneity are examined with respect to a recent neo-Inkaic cultural revitalization movement, partly NGO sponsored, that has emerged in the area. iii / vii, 176 leaves ; 29 cm

Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished