State Policies, Territories and Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador (1983-2012)

This work seeks to reconstruct the dynamics of the agreements and disagreements between the State and the indigenous peoples in Ecuador, emphasising particularly on two key elements: first, the indigenous peoples participation and exercise of their political rights, in particular the right to self-government and autonomy within their jurisdictions; and secondly, indigenous peoples’ degree of direct influence on public policies’ formulation and implementation, specially those directly affecting their territories, including the exploitation of natural resources. In Ecuador, during this historical period, the state has gone through three major moments in its relationship with indigenous peoples: neo - indigenism associated to developmentalism (1980-1984); multiculturalism associated to neoliberalism (1984- 2006) as one of the dominant trends over the period; and the crisis of neoliberalism and the search for national diversity and interculturalism associated to post- neoliberalism (2007-2013). Each has had a particular connotation, as to the scope and methods to respond to indigenous demands. In this context, this research aims to answer the central question: how has the Ecuadorian State met the demands of the indigenous movement in the last three decades, and how has it ensured the validity of their gradually recognized rights? And how and to what extent by doing so, it contradicts and alters the existing economic model based on the extraction of primary resources?

La aplicación del Plan Plurinacional para eliminar la discriminación racial y la exclusión étnica en la provincia de Bolívar

Este trabajo analiza la concepción de las políticas públicas en torno a sectores históricamente marginados bajo la óptica de las acciones afirmativas. Se muestra la relación entre los pueblos y nacionalidades y el Estado, enfatizando el caso ecuatoriano y la implementación del Plan Plurinacional para Eliminar la Discriminación Racial y la Exclusión Étnica cuya propuesta plantea superar la exclusión y la discriminación de la cual han sido víctimas ciertos grupos poblacionales en el Ecuador. De esta manera, “el objetivo fundamental de este trabajo es realizar un balance de la aplicación de las políticas de acción afirmativa contenidas en el Plan Plurinacional para eliminar la Discriminación Racial y la Exclusión Étnica en la provincia de Bolívar, utilizando diferentes fuentes de consulta que van desde documentos de análisis sobre la situación del racismo y la discriminación racial a documentos oficiales y uso de entrevistas”.