Unraveling the "Miracle"?

- Aspects of Racism in the Ecuadorian context -

 

In this section we would like to show how ethnic marketing is related to aspects of indigenous identity and racialized power structures in Ecuadorian society. Every question is related to the others, but at the same time each treats a topic on its own. So feel free to read only single paragraphs of your interest or follow the questions if you like to get a more detailed impression of the aspects of race and power struggle in the community of Otavalo.

 

How did racial categorizations emerge in Ecuador?

Before colonial times being indigenous was nothing more than belonging to a certain tribe with certain traditions and organizations. Later in the Inca dynasty the identification as kichwa meant to belong to the noble cast of the Sons of the God Inti that built up a big empire, while others formed the bottom of the hierarchy. With the submission of the indigenous people by Spanish conquerors during colonial times the established order changed, indigenous people were subjugated and considered inferior to the white Europeans that arrived (Ibarra, 1998). It is in this time that race becomes an instrument of social categorization of the people (Quijano, 2001). The image constructed of indigenous people from colonial times on included a negative valorization as “uncivilized, dirty, animal like or less intelligent“, people, which justified their treatment by the Spaniards, who enslaved indigenous people and made them pay tributes to the king. But despite the fact that opposition between white conquerors and indigenous slaves softened up when a class of mestizos grew during the Real Audience of Quito, the idea of indigenous inferiority remained after the independence of Ecuador and during the whole 19th and 20th century. This ensured the possession of power and influence of those considered the descendants of the former colonial rulers - called mestizos in Ecuador.

 

What is indigenism, mestizaje and blanqueamiento about?

The idea of mestizaje, which can be translated as “cultural mixture”, became the paradigm in the construction of a national identity not only in Ecuador, but in various countries of Latin America. It proposed the existence of one general citizen and one racial category, arguing that during the colonialization all families mixed more or less. This way the idea validated the official negation of cultural difference and created the port for domination of the mestizos over indigenous, black and other colored people. At the same time the descendants of purported white Europeans were affirmed at the top of this racial hierarchy (Quijano, 2001). But the official negation of cultural difference led to a permanent racial categorization in daily social life, which submitted and marginalized those who do not consider themselves or were not considered mestizos (Ibarra, 1998; Ordoñez, 2000). The main principle of “blanqueamiento” that remains as a stigmatizing common sense in the Ecuadorian society is: The whiter a person is, the better his pedigree (Ibarra, 1998).

 

What is different in Otavalo?

In Otavalo the racialized social order that put indigenous people in marginal positions of society is challenged in various ways. First, indigenous people of Otavalo participate and influence more actively in political issues than those in other regions of Ecuador. Important political offices like the Mayor of the city, provincial ministers, leadership of the national indigenous movement CONAIE and its political party PACHAKUTIK and also members of the national assembly are occupied by indigenous people of Otavalo and social organizations participate with a strong influence on the provincial politics (Lalander 2009). Second, the educational landscape changed for indigenous people. On the one hand it has been strongly influenced by the development of intercultural bilingual educational programs that include kichwa as principle language, ancestral knowledge, legends and cosmovision in the schedule. In Otavalo there have also been strong efforts to unify the language and produce scripts and language textbooks in order to preserve kichwa as ancestral language. On the other hand the number of college graduates and indigenous professionals with at least a tertiary education has risen constantly and significantly in the last decades. Third, mayor urban spaces of Otavalo are occupied by the indigenous population and the design of the urban spaces incorporate elements of the indigenous tradition like the Andean cross or the statue of Rumiñahui (Kaltmeier 2014; Huayarca 2014) that reflects the struggles between the mestizo and indigenous population in the definition of cultural spaces and the transformation these conflicts provoke within the naturalized racial social order (Huayarca 2011 and 2014). As a result, especially since the end of the 20th century, the paradigm of mestizaje is questioned in official discourses and since 2008 the constitution officially recognizes Ecuador as a multinational state. Otavalo contributed significantly to this discourse.

 

How were these changes possible?

The economic changes in Otavalo, especially with the accelerated globalization since the second half of the 20th century, led the way for the political, educational and socio-cultural changes we are currently observing (Meisch 2001). The economic success based on trade, tourism and music businesses that Otavalo people established especially with European and North American (white) foreigners were crucial to making money, making partners/friends and becoming global players (Ruiz 2008). By doing so they not only gained capital but influence to more and other resources that helped to improve Otavalo’s situation even more.

 

What do racism and ethnic marketing have to do with this?

To look at the process of economic development in Otavalo under aspects of racism is very interesting because:

One the one hand it facilitated the claim of indigenous identity in Otavalo and led to the recognition of the Otavalos as successful businessmen. The negative image constructed in relation to indigenous communities throughout history (Ibarra, 1998) was fundamentally rebutted when their products began to be appreciated and demanded by the international community.

But on the other hand it reaffirmed Whiteness as the current ideal, so that we could talk about "blanqueamiento cultural" as a power-gaining process. This means that the principle of "blanqueamiento" does not apply to skin color or descent as it was the case earlier, but to a person’s lifestyle, habits, social contacts, preferences and interests, personal look etc. which is predefined by a Eurocentric worldview.

 

Ethnic marketing is the instrument that makes these two dynamics possible, because indigenous cultural roots of the Otavalo people form the base for the three business areas. The textile industry makes use of designs like highland landscapes, animals and plants from the region, shapes with symbolic meanings or indigenous people, houses and traditional clothing (De la Torre Pillajo). Musicians compose their productions with traditional instruments that were formerly used in rituals and include lyrics in Kichwa (Halpin). Tourist agents expand communitarian tourism by explaining history and legends of the region and showing indigenous communitarian daily life and the municipality frames certain Andean festivities with an agenda that attract tourists to assist the events and share cultural celebrations (Halpin).

 

Does everybody in Otavalo profit from these changes and are all changes favorable?

Despite the fact that the general living conditions in Otavalo improved, there is still a big and raising inequality between different communities (Yapud, 2015). Not all families or communities in Otavalo are dedicated to tourism, trade or the music business, but there is still a high dependency on agriculture and a great heterogeneity of professions in the canton, while others have a long trajectory in the management of their businesses. Factors like the size, type and time of foundation of a business, possibilities of expansion, international contacts, travelling experience, family contacts and networks determine the positioning of a business on the market. For that reason certain families and certain communities have more power to promote their interests, while others don’t have sufficient access to the provision of their needs.

 

Also new conflicts emerged as well as an extended discourse about the "loss of identity" between older and younger generations and between migrant and non-migrant families in Otavalo (Célleri: 15).  This is considered a recent effect of the migration processes and the international business, because (especially young) travelling merchants return to the community and bring with them experiences of cultural difference, music, clothing and lifestyle that merge with their indigenous home community and collide with an increasing social stratification inside the communities and Otavalo itself (Célleri: 15).

 

How can we understand the "miraculous" development in Otavalo under aspects of racism and power?

Finally we understand that the economic processes in Otavalo incentivized very important changes that contributed to the acknowledgement of indigenous cultural goods first by international foreigners and then by the national society. What makes this type of entrepreneurship so innovative is that all business goods focus on indigeneity, which has historically been considered inferior and negative. Therefor the development in Otavalo deserves the attribute "miraculous" to the extent that its indigenous population turned the historically imposed image of inferiority to their advantage by successfully inventing and applying a marketing strategy that exposes cultural elements and puts their indigenous identity in the center of business. This way the entrepreneurial spirit of indigenous people of Otavalo not only made many communities of Otavalo expand their businesses and as a result gain capital, reputation and influence (=power), but also challenged the perception that mestizos and other populations had of the indigenous people of Otavalo so far.

 

But it is necessary to understand that the economic processes of the last decades in Otavalo are now embedded in a concrete historical trajectory and in determinate social, cultural, economic, political, and religious contexts. This means that ideas of "race" and also the fight for a revalorization of indigenous identity in Ecuador had already started centuries ago (Ibarra, 1999) and also the ground for the economic take off has been prepared for a long time.

 

Eventually there are still conflicts to solve and with the changes of recent decades in Otavalo there are also new tasks emerging.