Sociology Commons^™

Brutality Behind Bars: A Look At Prison Violence In Ecuador, Zulema Alejandra Palacios Jaramillo

Graduate Masters Theses

Prisons are frequently perceived as spaces where those unwanted by society are placed. Thus, they are often purposefully ignored and left under-served. This is the reality of prisons and inmates in Ecuador, where violence has reached unprecedented levels, raising concerns about its causes. As this thesis shows, violence inside prisons is not an isolated incident only provoked by the restrictive nature of detention centers, or the character of inmates, but rather a manifestation of a complex mix of institutional, organizational, criminological, and social factors at play in the country. This thesis aims at understanding, from a conflict resolution perspective, what …

‘Con Los Brazos Abiertos’: Venezuelan Migration And The Humanitarian State Under Ecuador's Moreno Administration, Madeline Cook

Honors Theses

In its 2008 Constitution, Ecuador enshrined radically inclusive principles of universal citizenship and legal protections for migrants, written in a moment of historic Ecuadorian emigration. Yet in the wake of the Venezuelan migrant crisis and President Lenin Moreno’s shift towards austerity, how has his administration (2017-2021) responded to the Venezuelan migration in policy and in political discourse? Through an analysis of legal documents including ministerial agreements, legislation, executive decrees, and the VERHU visa, this paper outlines a pattern of legal restrictions levied on Venezuelan migrants. Additionally, this paper employs a qualitative content analysis of the Moreno administration’s political discourse, including …

Transnational Indigenous Migration: Racialized Geographies And Power In Southern Highland Ecuador, Victoria Stone-Cadena

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the shifting landscape of social and economic inequalities in the remittance-dominated region of southern highland Ecuador, focusing on the transformations brought about by increased international migration since the early 2000s. The broader question is whether or not transnational migration has facilitated political and social upward mobility among indigenous communities. More specifically I ask: in what ways does indigenous identity figure in contemporary international migration practices, how does transnational indigenous migration complicate bounded notions of rural indigenous life, and how might the strategies employed by indigenous migrants transform social and economic inequalities in two small towns in the …

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Imagen Y Percepción De La Inmigración Ecuatoriana En España, Jesús Calzas Millán

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the decade following the Ecuadorian financial crisis of 1988, Spain took in approximately half a million Ecuadorian immigrants. This study analyzes the social consequences of this migratory flow from a very particular point of view: the perspective offered by the mass media and literary works.

Using several reports as well as different newspaper articles and literary works, this project shows how this group has been stigmatized during their stay in the receiving country. The reader will be able to see that this stigmatization comes not only from the fact that it is possible to distinguish the Ecuadorian physically, but …

Trust In Government Versus Fear Of Crime As Predictors Of Support For Authoritarian Policies In Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Study, Clímaco David Cañarte Gutiérrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals interacting in an environment that exacerbates fear of crime and general distrust may face erosion of democratic values and perceive authoritarian policies as a solution to restore order. In Latin America historical widespread distrust in the government apparatus as well as fear of crime, have always been a topic of interest, not only for sociologists but also for political scientists and lawmakers. This study uses the LAPOP wave 2012 (Latin American Public Opinion) survey to assess Ecuadorians’ perceptions about trust in the government and fear of crime as predictors of support for authoritarian policies (mano dura). Logistic regressions …

How Left A Turn? Legacies Of The Neoliberal State In Latin America, Aaron Thomas Rowland

Doctoral Dissertations

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Latin American region experienced a profound shift in development ideologies that resulted in the creation of a new type of state: the Latin American neoliberal state. This state emerged in three stages: the stabilization stage—focused on balance of payments and austerity; the structural adjustment stage—which was more broadly and deeply focused on changing the structure and culture of society; and the institutional turn—which was an acknowledgment that the neoliberal state had not effectively dealt with poverty, inequality, or the quality of institutions that integrated market, society, and polity. Beginning in the early 2000s, an …

Between Facebook And Boas: Kichwa Indigenous Identity In Alto Napo And Challenges To Multiculturalism In Ecuador, Anna Maria Fernandez-Marti

Master's Theses

This qualitative study examines contemporary Kichwa indigenous identity formation in the Alto Napo region of Ecuador through Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital. Following an extended-case method, I analyze the articulation of indigenousness (as an idealized expression of tradition) vis-à-vis the power relationships of the actors involved in such process. A combination between participant observation, daily field notes and twelve tape-recorded interviews during a two-month research allowed me to deconstruct essentialist portrayals and stereotypes of Kichwa indigenous peoples in Alto Napo, and confirm that their identity is hybrid, multiple and shifting. A comparative analysis between urban and rural social dynamics in …

Geographies Of Co2Lonialism And Hope In The Northwest Pacific Frontier Territory-Region Of Ecuador, Julianne Adams Hazlewood

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the human dimensions of environmental transformations spurred by international climate change mitigation agreements—such as the Kyoto Protocol—that encourage lowering greenhouse gas emissions with ‘green’ market strategies like biofuel and ecological services development projects. It is methodologically grounded in “collaborative activist geographical methods” and theoretically based at the nexus of development, political ecologies, neoliberalization of Nature, and geographies of hope literatures. It examines the contradictory and complex ways that state “climate change mitigation development” projects surround and infiltrate the Indigenous and Afro-ecuadorian ancestral territories of the canton of San Lorenzo (Esmeraldas Province), located in the “Northwest Pacific Fronter …

Effect Of The Consumption Of Farm Animals On The Diet And Hemoglobin Levels Of School Age Children In The Rural Communities Of Topo, Imbabura, Gualabi, Calpaqui, And Compania Of The Imbabura Province, Alexandra Echeverría

Theses and Dissertations

This research addressed malnutrition in the villages of Topo, Imbabura, Gualabí, Calpaquí and Compañía in the city Otavalo, which is in the Province of Imbaura, Ecuador. The research determined the effects of consumption of small-animals on the diet and hemoglobin levels in school aged boys and girls. This study involved 311 indigenous children between 6 and 12 years of age. Following parental authorization, blood tests and fecal samples were taken from each child to analyze hemoglobin and parasites. Additional information gathered from this study group included a socio-economic survey, frequency of food consumption, 24 hour inventory, animal production, and basic …

Determination Of The Presence Of Antibiotics And Bacterial Pathogens With Their Susceptibility In Fresh Milk From The San Nicolas Community And The Cities Of Penipe, Guano, And Chambo In The Chimborazo Province, Lupe Marín

Theses and Dissertations

This study is entitled, “determination of the presence of antibiotics and bacterial pathogens with their susceptibility in fresh milk from the San Nicolas community and the cities of Penipe, Guano, and Chambo in the Chimborazo province”. It was funded by the Benson Institute of Brigham Young University and Nestle. The objectives were: 1) to determine the presence of antibiotics in fresh milk from the San Nicolas community and the cities of Penipe, Guano, and Chambo, 2) to determine the presence of bacterial pathogens in milk from the places previously mentioned, and 3) to detect the susceptibility of the isolated bacteria …