Description
Book SynopsisA unique examination of ethnography as a theory-constructive endeavour focused on indigenous and Afro-descended Ecuadorian people
Trade Review"The length and breadth of the Whittens' fieldwork in Ecuador adds a level of depth and insight that is unparalleled in Latin American studies. Their way of integrating earlier and more recent theories allows readers to understand how the contemporary concern for ethnogenesis, interculturality, and alternative modernities was anticipated several decades ago in works that still speak to us today in relevant terms."--Jonathan D. Hill, author of
Made-from-Bone: Trickster Myths, Music, and History from the Amazon"This book provides a fertile ground for thinking about the contributions of indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples to transformative politics in Ecuador, and it is one that is sure to yield fruitful insights well into the future."--American Anthropologist
"In the Whittens' hands, culture is deeply relational. They develop a vocabulary of interculturality, alternative modernity, and emergent culture to convey how the transformative capacity of people operates in their power over signs."--
The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology"This book historicizes ethnography in a unique, witness-participant way, bringing margins to center but also showing how indigenous and African-descended Ecuadorians have 'taken over' the country's history-in-the-making."--Kris Lane, author of
Quito 1599: City and Colony in TransitionTable of ContentsPreface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: To Remake the World 1
Prelude 23
1. colonial Mentality in Making the World 25
Prelude 43
2. Indigenous Constructions of "Blackness" 45
Norman E. Whitten Jr. and Rachel Corr
Prelude 65
3. The Topology of
El Mestizaje 67
Prelude 91
4. The Ecuadorian Indigenous Uprising of 1990 93
Prelude 115
5. Ecuador in the New Millennium 117
Prelude 141
6. Indigenous Ethnographers Portray Their World 143
Dorothea Scott Whitten
Prelude 163
7. Indigenous Modernity 165
Conclusion: Ethnography and Theory in Cultural Life 187
Notes 203
References 211
Index 243
