Foote, N.C.; (2005) Race, nation, and gender in Ecuador: A comparative study of Black and indigenous populations, c.1895-1944. Doctoral thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

This thesis presents an analysis of the relationship between race, gender, and nation in early twentieth century Ecuador. Specifically, it seeks to explore the racialisation of state structures under the Liberal project developed and advanced in the half-century following the 1895 Liberal Revolution, and the role of racial ideas in the more inclusionary vision of the nation that begin to be articulated in this period. By taking as its central focus the experiences, activities and ideologies of black and indigenous populations who were the * subjects' of this "re-imagining", it aims to create a political history from below, which will uncover the hidden histories of groups who have been marginalised within narratives of state and nation, and as such advance a fuller understanding of the nation-building process. By considering black and indigenous groups within an explicitly comparative framework, it aims to advance a more nuanced understanding of the way ideas about race affected the development of national identity, the operation of state and national institutions, and the positioning of subaltern groups in relation to the nation. The thesis argues for the re-centring of the state as a key locus of nation-building and the process of racialisation. As such, the formation of state policy as a site of contestation and negotiation is taken as the primary focus. The thesis outlines the relationship between race, gender and nation-building in the formation of the Ecuadorian state, before shifting the focus to liberalism and exploring the nature of Liberal ideology as related to race, seen through the lens of negotiations over the extension of citizenship. It then undertakes case studies of three key dimensions of state discourse: the integration of national territory and resources social policy - specifically education and health and sanitation and the politics of land. A consideration of black and indigenous responses is integrated into each of the case studies, while a final chapter looks at the issues of liberalism and nationalism more directly from below, exploring how black and indigenous involvement in rural guerrilla movements and uprisings reflected their own conceptions of their role in the nation and their understandings of the meaning of citizenship.

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