Geography

Modernization from below: an alternative indigenous development?

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This paper compares conceptions of "indigenous agriculture' and alternative agricultural development as used by academics with approaches to agricultural development taken by Indian federations and the NGOs and churches working with them in highland Ecuador. There are significant differences between these conceptions. Moving away from traditional practices, the Indian federations have promoted the use of Green Revolution technologies as part of a strategy they still conceive as "indigenous'. The federations' approach points to a more profound conception of indigenous agricultural development as a strategy implemented and controlled by Indian organizations and oriented toward a refashioning of the cultural and political landscale of highland Ecuador. In this way, analysing grassroots concepts challenges our theoretical constructions. Nonetheless, popular concepts should not be taken at face value. We should understand farmers and their organizations as "situated' in socioeconomic, political, and cultural structures that both enable and constrain as they construct their resource management strategies. A viable indigenous agricultural development must address the social relationships underlying such structural constraints. -from Author

Publication Title

Economic Geography

Publication Date

1-1-1993

Volume

69

Issue

3

First Page

274

Last Page

292

ISSN

0013-0095

DOI

10.2307/143451

Keywords

agricultural development projects, Ecuador, Andes, indigenous agriculture, nongovernmental organizations, popular organization, alternative development

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