Carlos de la Torre is Director of the doctoral program in and Chair of Political Studies at FLACSO (La Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) in Quito, Ecuador. He is the author of "Populist Seduction in Latin America: The Ecuadorian Experience" and several books in Spanish, including "Afroquitenos: Ciudadania y Racismo."Steve Striffler is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of "In the Shadows of State and Capital: the United Fruit Company, Popular Struggle, and Agrarian Restructuring in Ecuador, 1900-1995" and a coeditor of "Banana Wars: Power, Production, and History in the Americas," both also published by Duke University Press

Introduction 1

I Conquest and Colonial Rule 9

II A New Nation 99

III The Rise of the Popular 155

IV Global Currents 189

V Domination and Struggle 277

VI Cultures and Identities Redefined 337

Suggestions for Further Reading 419

Acknowledgment of Copyrights 423

Index 427

The Ecuador Reader is a gateway for understanding the volatile and intriguing history of this complex, multicultural land. From José María Velasco Ibarra’s fiery populism to the politics of a contemporary beauty pageant, the book captures the rich diversity of the country’s past and present. It is a major contribution to the study of the Andean world.”—Catherine M. Conaghan, Queen’s University



“The Ecuador Reader offers an intriguing glimpse of the diverse voices and perspectives through which Ecuadorians have engaged the social, political, and cultural challenges of crafting a modern nation. Compiled by two of the leading scholars of Ecuadorian cultural and political thought, the essays in this volume provide testimony to the diversity and creativity of the intellectuals, organizations, communities, and individuals who people Ecuadorian history. The discussions of identity, ethnicity, colonialism, development, culture, and the state found in these pages offer a unique starting point for exploring Ecuador’s historical path from being a colony on the edges of the Inca and Spanish empires to becoming a central player in modern Latin American political debates.”—Deborah Poole, Johns Hopkins University