African Descent Neighborhood in Quito: Identities, Representations and Multi-Territoriality

This article aims to highlight the construction processes of ethnic identities and their multiple identity reference spaces particularly considering the theoretical contributions of Stuart Hall on "identity articulations" and Rogerio Haesbaert on "multi-territorialities".To demonstrate these processes an ethnographic study was conducted in the neighborhood Caminos a la Libertad located northwest of Quito. Data were collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The article's point of departure considers that ethnic identities are not anchored to a particular territory and that its construction is dynamic, contextual and constantly articulated with categories such as race, class and gender. This articulation shows in turn the different ways to create boundaries between the groups but also the collectives' agency and subjectivity when founding organizations, demanding policies and generating local and global actions.