Multicoloured Black. Power relations, identity processes and Afro-Ecuadorians’ identity formation in the Chota-Mira valley

Abstract

Neoliberal governmentality has resulted in local initiatives and governmental changes towards recognition of cultural citizenship. Afro-Ecuadorians are involved in the process of becoming included, in a nation that does not always uphold its promise to be multicultural and plurinational. Yet the possibility to make cultural claims on the basis of finally ‘legally’ being a separate social category has shifted power relations. Neoliberal governmentality has enabled a negotiation of citizenship. Politically active Afro-Ecuadorians have unraveled the hegemonic discourse of the Ecuadorian state. Subsequently these actors have proposed to mould the discourse for their own benefit, backed up by the constitution and laws protecting collective rights of Choteños. Hegemonic discourses are being contested and unraveled publicly on a local level as well, in order for inhabitants of the Chota valley to become more conscious of their negotiation possibilities. Cultural difference itself has indeed become a commodity (Moore 2003 In Moore and Sanders 2006:447-448). Amidst multiple initiatives and projects in the region some members focus on Afro-Ecuadorian identity, while others do not hold onto race or ethnicity but their relationship with the land as agriculturers. In the Chota valley ancestral history is being recaptured through rituals and symbols as well. Several external influences are depicted as having contaminated traditional cultural aspects causing their loss or under appreciation. Simultaneously internet is increasingly being used by Afro-Ecuadorians to discover one’s ‘lost’ history and culture or to come into contact with initiatives and ideas on identity formation outside the region. Multiple identities present on a small scale provide evidence of how diverse political, social and cultural expressions are. The importance of realizing where one is from, both by acknowledging the uniqueness of one’s culture and territory as related to ancestors is widespread. “We are all brothers of ‘cimarrona’. Collectively they have done this harm to us. We have started to recapture this history and to unite ourselves”. On all scales Ecuadorians’ attitudes are intertwined with the nation’s (colonial history). The gap between law and practice still is very big and people’s mind(sets) are seen not to have changed through constitutional modifications. If international organizations and national governments are to recognize the identity processes and issues of recognition which Afro-Ecuadorians are facing, the sun might appear closer to the equator, illuminating the multiple colours interwoven in black.