Abstract

In the 1980s and 1990s indigenous movements began to receive national attention throughout Latin America, particularly in the central Andes (Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador). Despite the similarities between these cases, the existing literature overwhelmingly agrees that indigenous groups in Ecuador are comparatively more mobilized and effective at advocating for their rights. Why is Ecuador able to claim a strong indigenous movement, supported by lowland (Amazonian) and highland ethnic groups when Peru and Bolivia, despite having larger indigenous populations and similar political and economic characteristics, struggle to form a unified national movement? In other words, why are appeals to indigenous identity more likely to become mobilized in some countries than in others? This project departs from the prevalent literature in political science by focusing on long-range historical trajectories. Through the use of process-tracing (the comparison of historical sequences) I explore how the structures of the Inca Empire and Spanish colonialism influenced the ways in which economic activities, political institutions and nation-building interacted with indigenous identities. Four months of fieldwork in Peru and Ecuador supplement historiographical data collection with a number of in-depth elite interviews and participant observation of protests and public expressions of indigenous identity, including the 2019 national strike led by the indigenous movement in Ecuador. I find that indigenous movements in Latin America are likely to be more cohesive on a national level in contexts where colonial exploitation was disorganized, allowing for ethnic articulation to remain relatively strong throughout the colonial and post-colonial periods.

Principal Investigator

Karla Mundim

Doctoral Candidate, University of Florida

Bio

Karla Mundim is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on theories of multiculturalism, colonialism, indigenous mobilization, and ethnic politics. Her dissertation explores comparative indigenous movements through a historical lens, with a particular focus on the Andes. Her forthcoming article, in Politics, Groups, and Identities argues that indigenous women in Peru strategically engage the concept of territoriality in their dual struggle for collective indigenous rights, and individual rights as women. Karla is the comparative politics editorial assistant for Perspectives on Politics and has conducted field research in Ecuador and Peru.