Gender and Ethnicity as Barriers for Development: Indigenous Women, Access to Resources in Ecuador with a Latin American Perspective

Abstract

Placing original research undertaken in Ecuador with Kichwa and Tsáchila women, into the Latin American context, the paper addresses the barriers experienced by indigenous women to voice, rights and resources in the context of development programmes. The paper identifies racism, biased knowledges, and entrenched assumptions about women and indigenous people as the primary factors influencing indigenous women’s marginalization. The paper ends with a discussion of indigenous women’s critiques of development, and their recommendations for the future.

Keywords

• mujeres indígenas, desarrollo rural, racismo, críticas al desarrollo, recursos naturales.