A Genealogy of Neoliberal and Anti-neoliberal Resilience in the Ecuadorian Pacific coast

Abstract

Resilience appears to be everywhere, morphing and seducing global discourses, national governmental practices, and scholarship. Inasmuch as hegemonic discourses and national governments promote resilience through both disaster reduction and sustainable development policies, critical resilience scholars have emphasized resilience as a neoliberal security technique. By reinforcing resilience as a governmental practice embedded in neoliberal rationale, theory and practice are neglecting other areas to contextualize resilience. My dissertation traces a genealogy of neoliberal and anti-neoliberal State interventions underpinned by resilience thinking, organizing coastal rural lives in Ecuador. My dissertation shows, no matter the Ecuadorian governments’ rationale, both genuflected to global hegemonic discourses on resilience that justify government intervention to secure the population’s future. My analysis also reveals that both governmental rationales promoting resilience implemented similar techniques: legal framework adaptations, decentralizing processes, technocratic planning, and participatory management.