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Between Interculturalism and Ethnocentrism: Local Government and the Indigenous Movement in Otavalo‐Ecuador
Author(s) -
LALANDER RICKARD
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
bulletin of latin american research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1470-9856
pISSN - 0261-3050
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-9856.2010.00414.x
Subject(s) - indigenous , politics , movement (music) , dilemma , interculturalism , government (linguistics) , political science , political economy , local government , political movement , sociology , multiculturalism , law , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology , biology , aesthetics
To what extent might an indigenous mayor govern beyond ethnically defined grievances, without being labelled traitor by the indigenous organisation? This article deals with the challenges faced by the Ecuadorian indigenous movement when it attains power in local government. The issue will be explored through the case of Mario Conejo, who in 2000 became the first indigenous mayor of Otavalo representing the indigenous political movement Pachakutik. Although ethnically based tensions in the local indigenous movement were evident throughout the period, 2006 saw Conejo leave Pachakutik and create a new political movement. This rupture can be traced, I argue, to an intercultural dilemma and the difficulties of ethnically defined political movements.