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Indigenous worldviews and Western conventions: Sumak Kawsay and cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia

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Abstract

This article explores the role of conventions in the normalization of cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Convention theory provides key theoretical tools for understanding coordination among agents. However, conventions must be understood as cultural constructions with a strong Eurocentric background that must be substantially modified in originally non-European contexts. A creative application of convention theory can partially overcome bifurcation among Western and non-Western rationalities. First, it shows that Western values and forms of coordination are heterogeneous, conflictive and opposing. Second, it provides key insight for understanding the transformation of subaltern subjectivities generated from non-Western rationalities that are closely associated with subjugated knowledges. Third, in applying the concept of compromise, it allows one to understand cognitive hybridization and coordination among indigenous and Western agents and thus the complexities of processes of resistance, subversion and empowerment carried by indigenous communities. This article is focused on how cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia serves as an example of the confluence and coordination of indigenous (using the concept of “Good Living” or Sumak Kawsay) and Western conventions. The assertion of Sumak Kawsay is understood as a relevant transformation of Ecuadorian post-colonial relations. It is shown that relevant industrial upgrading processes are justified by, among others, Sumak Kawsay repertoires. Additionally, dialogue on knowledge and compromise among conventions, and especially concerning Sumak Kawsay and the market, have been key facets shaping the development of a differentiated quality strand that has promoted relevant changes in the subaltern positioning of indigenous farmers in the cocoa commodity chain.

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Notes

  1. Each author spent varying amounts of time in the area. The first author lived there for 8 months, and the second author lived there for 5 years.

  2. Terms used in this paragraph are taken directly from the fifth chapter of the English translation of Boltanski and Thévenot’s (2006) On justification: Economies of worth.

  3. Direct quotation from Boltanski and Thévenot (1991) and the 2006 English translation.

  4. Same as footnote 2.

  5. This classification was developed through the Integrated System of Social Indicators of Ecuador (SIISE) and particularly through the System of Indicators of the Peoples and Nationalities of Ecuador (SINDEPE). See http://www.siise.gob.ec/siiseweb/PageWebs/Marco%20Conceptual/macsdp_listan.htm.

  6. Survey data used in this research.

  7. Same as footnote 6.

  8. Same as footnote 6.

  9. Same as footnote 6.

  10. Member of Kallari’s directive staff.

  11. Member of Kallari’s directive staff.

Abbreviations

CT:

Convention theory

EAR:

Ecuadorian Amazon region

SK:

Sumak Kawsay

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Acknowledgements

The project Agrofood chains in the Amazonia was funded by Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Senescyt) of Ecuador. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Julio Cesar Vargas Burgos, rector of the Universidad Estatal Amazónica, for the support that this institution gave to the overall research and, in particular, for the facilities provided during the fieldwork. We also would like to thank different members of the academic staff of the Universidad Estatal Amazónica, in particular Dr. Laura Scalvenzi, Dr. Elisa López, Dr. Jairo Tocancipá and Engr. Jorge Freile. We also appreciated the collaboration of the different directive Kallari staffs, in particular, of Carlos Pozo, Galo Grefa and Netty Challapa. The contribution of the Vicariate of Puyo and the Puyo office of the Institute of Popular and Solidarity-based Economy has also been very important in the fieldwork developed in Canelos and Arajuno. Finally, we would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments.

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  1. Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Universidad de Sevilla, Carretera de Utrera, km. 1, 41021, Sevilla, Spain

    Daniel Coq-Huelva

  2. Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Estatal Amazónica, km. 2 1/2 vía Tena, Puyo, Ecuador

    Bolier Torres-Navarrete

  3. Institute of Forest Management, Center of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Bolier Torres-Navarrete

  4. Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Facultad de Ciencias del Trabajo, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda Ramón y Cajal s/n, 41018, Sevilla, Spain

    Carlos Bueno-Suárez

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Coq-Huelva, D., Torres-Navarrete, B. & Bueno-Suárez, C. Indigenous worldviews and Western conventions: Sumak Kawsay and cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Agric Hum Values 35, 163–179 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9812-x

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