Locating the "Indian Problem": Community, Nationality, and Contradiction in Ecuadorian Indigenous Politics

Analyzes the politics of identity & organization evident in the powerful activist indigenous movements in Ecuador, highlighting the relationship between indigenous "communities" & "nationalities" across different models & discourses. Efforts to link Indians to state institutions during two critical historical periods -- the 1930s & 1990s -- are compared, identifying the focus on community ("corporatist") in the former & nationality ("defiant") in the latter; analysis also problematizes any neat distinction between resistance & domination in the history of indigenous movements. The process through which local & regional indigenous populations were able to consolidate into a national-level indigenous movement with substantial political power -- Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities in Ecuador-CONAIE -- is described, drawing on Antonio Gramsci's (1971 [1949]) views on community building & contention. Some general conclusions on hegemony, political representation, & indigenous activism are offered. 61 References. K. Hyatt Stewart