Multilocality and territorial reconfigurations in residual indigenous urbanization in the Ecuadorian Amazon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.16921/chasqui.v1i161.5274Keywords:
Urbanización residual indígena; paisaje; violencias; contestaciones; Amazonía; Ecuador.Abstract
This article analyzes residual indigenous urbanization in the Ecuadorian Amazon, proposing an approach that highlights non-hegemonic forms of spatial production. The objective is to understand how multilocality, territorial violence, and social protests shape Waorani, Kichwa, and Shuar territorialities. Methodologically, it combines mixed methods, fieldwork, spatial analysis, and participatory tools in three case studies. The results reveal landscapes in flux, extractive pressures, territorial loss, and resistance strategies based on community organization and self-management. It concludes that indigenous residual urbanization is a hybrid and multiscalar process that challenges the urban-rural binary, and that multilocality is central to understanding indigenous territorial production and guiding future research.
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