Marc Becker's Home Page

Teaching

Research
Current Research
Books
Articles
awards
papers
lectures
Interests
Vita


Book Reviews 

Undoing multiculturalism : resource extraction and indigenous rights in Ecuador

publication thumbnail image

Martínez Novo, Carmen. Pittsburgh, 2021

  • 312p bibl index, 9780822946632 $50.00, 9780822988083
  • LC Call Number: F
    3738

Rafael Correa was Ecuador’s most popular president (2007–17) and brought unprecedented levels of economic growth and political stability to a chronically unstable country. Even though Correa’s policies significantly reduced poverty levels and shrank inequality, his ego and caustic personality famously brought him into conflict with social movements that should have formed his strongest base of support. One result was that a segment of the indigenous movements, as well as their academic collaborators, allied with their historical right-wing enemies in the oligarchy against Correa’s popular left-wing government. That is the perspective that Martínez Novo (Univ. of Florida) brings to this study, which draws on decades of ethnographic research and collaboration with indigenous movements in Ecuador. Accordingly, the best and most useful part of the book is the discussion of the relationship between anthropologists and participants in indigenous movements. This builds on and updates classic work in the field, such as Donna Lee Van Cott's From Movements to Parties in Latin America (CH, Jun'06, 43-6148) and Deborah Yashar's Contesting Citizenship in Latin America (CH, Jan'06, 43-3043), particularly on topics of natural resource extraction.

Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty.

 

| Marc Becker's Home Page | marc@yachana.org |