Citizen Revolution Research Articles

<i>Correismo</i> and <i>Anti-Correismo</i>: An Emotional Fracture in Ecuador. Presidential Elections of 2021

Objective/context: The objective pursued by this research is to analyse the possible existence of a social and political fracture around the figure of former President Rafael Correa and his political legacy, the Citizen Revolution, which would act as a kind of polarizing division of Ecuadorian society: correismo/anti- correismo axis. A division that, born of politics, would have been established within society, allowing the existence of two opposing sides that feel, perceive and act in politics in a very different way. Methodology: To this end, a study has been drawn up with a quantitative methodological approach based on an analysis of the data contained in the Study of Politics and Emotions in Ecuador, March 2021 (SPEE), carried out by the EIP-USC after the first round of the 2021 presidential elections. Conclusions: The results of this first approach (descriptive and multivariate) allow us to affirm the existence of important differences between supporters and detractors of correismo, especially as regards political and emotional issues, but not so regarding sociodemographic issues. Originality: The influence that the emotional factor expressed towards the different political leaders would have in the construction of this fracture is especially relevant; providing a novel vision to the literature on the influence of Rafael Correa and his project in the Ecuadorian political system.

Between negotiation and confrontation in Ecuador: the re-emergence of CONAIE during Lenin Moreno’s presidency in light of resource mobilization theory

ABSTRACT During President Rafael Correa’s term, Ecuador’s most relevant indigenous organization, CONAIE, entered a legitimacy crisis that severely weakened its representativeness. However, in October 2019, the organization surprisingly joined several social organizations in a national strike that paralyzed the country and forced President Lenin Moreno to derogate a controversial decree (833) that had eliminated oil subsidies. To explain CONAIE’s re-emergence, this article relies on resource mobilization theory to analyze how the organization benefited from the political turn implemented by Moreno within the Citizen Revolution Movement’s project. More concretely, this article argues that Moreno’s government reverted the institutionalization process in the country, abandoned the use of indigenous cultural markers, and tried to re-establish a positive relationship with CONAIE. In this context, CONAIE was able to recover resources lost during Correa’s presidency through co-optation and appropriation, increasing its legitimacy and influence within the indigenous communities.

The limits to growth of buen vivir socialism: Ecuador's alternative development model from 2007 to 2017

In 2006, the political coalition Alianza PAÍS promoted a "Citizen's Revolution" in Ecuador that would put an end to neoliberal policies and lead the country to "buen vivir". However, the coalition's arrival to the government and the negotiations of the 2008 Constitution generated fractures and splits within the party. The buen vivir was divided into three trends: Indianist, environmentalist and socialist. The socialist trend became the state representative, although it had huge controversies with the other two trends because it opted for a new post-neoliberal development model, while the indianists and ecologists rejected the continuity of the developmentalist models. This article presents the main characteristics of the three trends of buen vivir. In addition, based on the work The Limits to Growth and through the analysis of socio-economic and environmental indicators, it is shown how the socialist model of buen vivir (2007-2017) was an unsustainable model in the medium and long term.

State transformations and welfare models: the significance of the return of public institutions in Ecuador of the Citizen Revolution (2007–2017)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between estate transformations produced during the governments of the Citizen Revolution (CR) in Ecuador (2007-2017) and welfare regime transformations.Design/methodology/approachThe CR’s project registers an array of specificities that make it a relevant case study to understand it. Among them, it articulated the transformation of the development model with a comprehensive state reform: emphasized both the modernization of the state and the productive structure, and the creation of the basic pillars of a welfare state. The ambitious project materialized in an ambivalent manner, revealing accomplishments and limitations.FindingsThe recovery of resources for the state, the efficient organization of resources, decentralization and deconcentration processes, public administration transformations and policy de-corporatization processes accompanied and even propelled important achievements in the social sphere in terms of decommodification, stratification, commodification and defamiliarization. Ecuador’s starting point, as a small and impoverished country with pubic and communal goods and services dismantled through neoliberal reforms, was quite precarious. But, progress was made. Beyond the identified limitations, its accomplishments must be highlighted because they are novel in comparison to other progressive government experiences, especially in the context of Central Andean countries.Originality/valueThis article vindicates the need to link state transformation processes to welfare regime transformations, as well as the academic literature that informs both fields. The description of what took place in Ecuador in the field of social welfare during the ten years of the CR continues to confirm the theoretical potential of the concept of welfare regime with the necessary translations and appropriations that allow for the analysis of countries in the region. It enables an approach to a more theoretically and methodologically elusive object that is at the same time tremendously potent in analytical terms and in its contributions to social transformations. An object that alludes to areas gravely affected during neoliberal hegemony, linked to public institutionality, state capacity and state autonomy. This is why everything that affects the state and the management of public goods and services must be incorporated into the analysis.

The construction of recipients in the speeches of Rafael Correa after his mandate in 2018

We analyze Rafael Correa's discursive strategy for the construction of his pro-recipients and counter-recipients with their political representations in 2018, when he is out of the presidency of the Republic of Ecuador and is attacked systematically by the government of Lenín Moreno. Correa uses the logic of confrontation and antagonism against Moreno as the center of his criticism, who would be an ally of the media, economic and political groups. His story about the past and the present highlights the myth of the Citizen Revolution, also warns and creates fear about the danger for Ecuador due to the return of the negative “past” of instability and crisis.

Case study: what did Rafael Correa say? Comparing political attention across 10 years of the Ecuadorian president’s discourses

Abstract The “citizen revolution” was a political project executed mainly between 2007 and 2016 by the former president of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa Delgado, under the paradigm of 21st century socialism. The main characteristic of this project was to introduce a new political agenda to the country that was differentiated from past agendas, by focusing on issues such as the recognition of new rights, improvements to education, instituting a new economic model, and strengthening government and sovereignty, among others. Under this context, this work aims to analyze the political attention of the ex-president, explaining why some issues are more important than others, and why they varied over time. Based on a conceptual framework that takes ideas from the agenda-setting theory, the areas on which the political agenda concentrates are measured by the Shannon entropy index, and its various changes are explained as the results of preferences, institutional factors, and external events. The analysis is based on extensive database analyses of 10 years (covering Rafael Correa’s presidency) of government speeches, which are coded according to the methodology of the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP). To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first work to apply the CAP methodology in Ecuador.

Entrevista com René Ramírez Gallegos, Secretário de Educação Superior, Ciência e Tecnologia do Equador durante o período de 2011 a 2017

The following interview was conducted in 2018 with Ecuador's Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, during the period of 2011 and 2017, Rene Ramirez Gallegos. Rene Ramirez takes stock of the project that called itself “Citizen Revolution” (2007-2017), conducted by President Rafael Correa and his party until then, Alianza PAIS. During the interview, Rene Ramirez points out the progress of the Correa government and, above all, highlights the theses that came to light during the “correista” era. The issue of “buen vivir”, the new Constitution, the increase in investments in the area of education and the democratization of higher education are just some aspects explained by the secretary. At the same time, Rene Ramirez Gallegos denounces the reactionary “descorreizacion” project underway in the country, which put an end to the achievements of the so-called “decada ganada” in Ecuador.

Vivienda social en Ecuador: violencias y contestaciones en la producción progresista de periferias urbanas

Social housing production was one of the emblems of the Ecuadorian policy of the “Citizen Revolution” chaired by Rafael Correa for 10 years. From the case of Ecuador, it is analyzed how progressive governments applied policies in the field of social housing and urban development. This article tracks the scales of application these social policies had regarding neoliberalism, from the point of view of the violence and contestations that the process provoked. In Quito, families organized to obtain the promised homes after years of waiting. In Guayaquil, police violence displaced entire neighborhoods to achieve urban renewal through an ecological plan. In Portoviejo, from the earthquake of 2016, the center was converted, and the houses were moved to the periphery. From an historic, spatial, and qualitative methodology, this analysis shows the limitations of the proposals of the progressive governments and the popular organization to avoid displacement towards the peripheries

La reconstitución de la política por la revolución ciudadana en el ecuador: Hegemonía, discurso y política internacional previous a la toma del poder

El presente artículo analiza los momentos discursivos de la llamada Revolución Ciudadana, en la configuración contra hegemónica y su paso a una hegemonía de tipo ciudadana-popular. Las consignas significativas para la disputa política y la posterior reconfiguración del Estado y la sociedad. Y, finalmente, cuáles fueron los enunciados y postulados para una nueva política exterior, relaciones internacionales, en el contexto de la integración regional. La metodología utilizada es de tipo histórica, analítica descriptiva y del análisis del discurso. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian que las matrices discursivas fueron producidas desde los ciudadanos y nucleadas en el discurso presidencial como narrativa hegemónica.

Modelo de probabilidades para el análisis del desempleo en la ciudad de Machala- Ecuador

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar las causas del desempleo en la ciudad de Machala durante el periodo diciembre 2017 a enero 2018, mediante la aplicación de un modelo probabilístico logit; además se hace una caracterización de este fenómeno a nivel país, considerando el lapso presidencial liderado por el ex presidente del Ecuador Rafael Correa, a su vez se realiza una descripción teórica de referencias bibliográficas que disertan sobre el desempleo. Metodológicamente es un estudio de campo realizado en la ciudad de Machala, cuya producción agrícola, acuícola, y comercial la convierten en foco de importancia para estudiarla; la técnica de recolección de datos se basó en la encuesta y el instrumento usado fue el cuestionario conformado por 17 preguntas de tipo dicotómicas y politómicas, aplicado a una muestra de 300 personas sin caracterización previa. Los principales resultados hallados a través del modelo logit, el cual presentó óptima bondad de ajuste, demostró que la falta de experiencia laboral y el no poseer hijos son factores determinantes para no poseer empleo dentro de esta ciudad.

Educación para la emancipación: La educación liberadora de Leónidas Proaño

Education is a powerful instrument to reproduce the dominant hegemony in the new generations, or being an instrument of liberation of the poor segments of society. This article shows how these processes of hegemonic reproduction and educational proposals are developed so that education is not a reproductive instrument, but an effective tool for liberation. Both roles are seen in the Ecuadorian reality, from the influence of the Catholic Church in the consolidation of the dominant axiology, to the attempts developed by the citizen revolution governmet to include religion in the public school.

Feminismos entrecruzados: luchas por la despenalización del aborto y el medioambiente en el Ecuador

Este articulo explica cómo las actoras feministas se identificaron con el discurso del sumak kawsay de las mujeres indígenas alrededor del cuidado del medio ambiente, la infancia y las mujeres que viven en las comunidades, vinculándolo con la despenalización del aborto y presentándolo bajo la propuesta de “gestión de la vida”. Este fue un momento histórico en para las mujeres campesinas y urbanas que habían sido fuertemente cuestionadas por el gobierno de la revolución ciudadana en el Ecuador. Así, luego de hacer un pequeño recorrido histórico por hitos de los feminismos, se explica cómo fue este proceso de identificación.

La economía popular y solidaria y las finanzas populares y solidarias en Ecuador

La Economía Popular y Solidaria (EPS) y las Finanzas Populares y Solidarias (FPS) surgen en Ecuador con la administración del gobierno conocido como de la Revolución Ciudadana (15 de enero de 2007 - 24 de mayo de 2017), a tal punto que, la EPS se halla inserta en la actual Constitución de la República del Ecuador 2008. A fin de dotarle a la EPS de su marco regulatorio, la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente en 2011 aprobó la Ley Orgánica de la Economía y Popular y Solidaria y del Sector Financiero Popular y Solidario (LOEPS); en esta consta la base legal para que se hayan creado los agentes institucionales: Corporación Nacional de Finanzas Populares y Solidarias (CONAFIPS) en 2011 y Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria (SEPS) en 2012. A más del que estaba creado Instituto Nacional de Economía Popular y Solidara (IEPS) en 2009, encargado del progreso de la EPS. La CONAFIPS es la que otorga financiamiento a las organizaciones de las FPS, y éstas a la vez, financian el desarrollo de los emprendimientos de la EPS en las parroquias urbanas y rurales del país; y la SEPS, se encarga del control de las organizaciones de la EPS y de las FPS. El objetivo de estos agentes institucionales es, velar por la sostenibilidad de los emprendimientos que se desarrollan en las parroquias urbanas y rurales del país. Sin embargo, no han logrado cumplir el fin para lo que fueron creados, debido a la forma como están organizados actualmente. Los resultados así lo demuestran sobre todo en las parroquias rurales, ya que la pobreza por Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas (NBI) según el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) a diciembre de 2017 alcanzó el 56,1%.

Orto y ocaso del buen vivir en la planificación nacional del desarrollo en Ecuador (2007-2021)

En este artículo se presenta un análisis hermenéutico de los cuatro últimos planes nacionales de desarrollo del Ecuador que abarcan el período 2007-2021. El objetivo de este análisis es valorar la variable importancia real que el concepto de buen vivir ha tenido como orientador de las políticas públicas de desarrollo en Ecuador, en el contexto de la Revolución Ciudadana implementada por Alianza pais bajo el liderazgo de Rafael Correa (2007-2017) y Lenin Moreno (2017-2021).

Neo‐developmentalism and a “vía campesina” for rural development: Unreconciled projects in Ecuador's Citizen's Revolution

AbstractFrom the outside, it appears that the government of President Rafael Correa in Ecuador has put in place a legal and policy framework for a vía campesina model of rural development, inspired by food sovereignty and buen vivir. Recent studies have, however, concluded that a considerable disjuncture exists between this framework and the actual agricultural policies and programmes implemented by the government. In this paper, I provide a broad overview of the agricultural and rural development policies under the Correa government and analyse some of the causes of the gap between the policy framework and policy implementation. I argue that Ecuador under Correa speaks to the difficulties of reconciling a vía campesina approach to rural development with a neo‐developmental economic model. I focus on several issues in particular in order to explain the disjuncture: how the growth of “vía campesina” proposals and political discourse in Ecuador since the 1980s coincided with significant processes of agrarian change; the transformation of rural social movement federations from a sociopolitical force into a political/electoral force and the subsequent decline of these movements; and the deepening integration of small‐scale producers into domestic agribusiness commodity chains and the growth of national agribusiness firms during the Correa government.

Las nuevas reformas educativas en el Ecuador y su aplicación en educación especial

The Ecuador over the years, the government of the citizen revolution has made drastic changes in the education system,with the aim of improving the quality of learning of Ecuadorians. This article is aimed at analyzing the educational reform in Ecuador from the new institutions of the country, which constitutes the government of Econ. Rafael Correa Delgado with the new educational model that began in January 2010, from this restructuring conducted an analysis of special education in our country, if considered in the reforms and if taken due importance concerning the preparation of disabled people. This analysis also helps to demonstrate what are the benefits generated by the educational reform within specialized educational units, based on the perspective of before and after, and as by their application has been made to strengthen the processes of quality improvement, relevance, equity and efficiency of special education in Ecuador.

Contradicciones y tensiones en las políticas de desmercantilización de la Revolución Ciudadana en Ecuador

The article analyzes the extent to which economic and social policies implemented between 2007 and 2015 by the Government of the Citizen Revolution in Ecuador can be considered as a process of de-commodification work, money and land, as fictitious commodities, in Karl Polanyi terms, in a country with informal employment, officially dollarized and dependent on oil. To do this, the main labor and financial policies, as well as the management of oil revenues, are described. Furthermore, the lack of coherence and the limits that the institutions of global capitalism impose on the sovereignty of the economic policies will be discussed. The main hypothesis of this work is that the Good Living, which originally appeared in the margins of the State and political power, was instrumented by the Citizen Revolution (CR) to articulate a political project of de-commodification of labor, money and natural resources. However, this project, embraced by Ecuadorian society, showed limited autonomy and coherency -and this is the subordinate hypothesis- because it heavily depended on the upward trend of oil prices, as the return to the neoliberal program -that never lost its hegemony at global level­- demonstrated, when oil price fell. One of the conclusions is that the Government of the CR can be considered as a post-neoliberal one.

Construcciones discursivas en la nueva legislación de aguas en el Ecuador

Based on the concept of «law discourse content» developed by Oscar Correas, this article examines the more outstanding and controversial issues of the new water regulation framework in Ecuador, with emphasis on the «Ley Organica de Recursos Hidricos, Usos y Aprovechamiento del Agua», in force since second half 2014, andidentifying the tensions between the discursive constructions that frame the new regulation. This leads us to the following conclusion: the law reveals a political conception on water management by the «Citizen Revolution» which, from the vertical control of the state apparatus, encourages a capitalist modernization of the economy seeking to support and expand a rentier use of water.

La televisión ecuatoriana regulación, convergencia, digitalización y transformación del paradigma (2007 – 2016) / Ecuadorian television: regulation, convergence, digitalization, transformation of the model (2007 – 2016)

<p>Debido a los cambios registrados en la década correspondiente al gobierno de la Revolución Ciudadana en Ecuador, el televisivo ha sido quizá el medio que está explorando una mayor transformación. De la incautación a la creación de canales públicos; de la autorregulación parcial a la regulación legislativa; del impacto generalizado a la acusación estatal con sanciones incluidas; y, finalmente, de lo analógico a la conversión a la televisión digital terrestre, son algunas de las claves conceptuales que explicaremos para contextualizar este periodo. Es esta una etapa que coincide, a nivel global, con la convergencia mediática y con la dotación de una mayor interactividad entre el espectador y el medio, fruto de la activación de las audiencias y el desplazamiento sufrido –con matices- por erigirse Internet como medio referencial.</p>

Transfeminist Crossroads

Abstract This article provides an account of transfeminism as a grassroots political project rooted in material politics that has led to significant changes on transgender issues in Ecuadorian public policy over the past decade. Ecuadorian transfeminist activists firmly believe that feminist theory and practice are critical tools in the struggle for trans liberation, and that the social oppression of transgender people is intimately connected with the larger structures of patriarchy that feminisms seek to counteract. Their praxis has worked its way up from walking the streets with “working girls,” to drafting articles for the constitution based on the knowledge learned during nightly street patrols, and later garnering the necessary support for successful inclusion of these articles in the constitution. “Transfeminist Crossroads” follows the trajectory of the My Gender on My ID campaign to highlight the role of transfeminist activism in changing public opinion and pushing new legislation in one of the flagship countries of the Latin American “left turn.” The unfolding of this campaign demonstrates the dynamic flux and fluidity of state formation as transfeminist activists respond to President Rafael Correa's call for a “citizen revolution” and geopolitical forces reconfigure relationships between social conservatism, left populism, adaptive neoliberalism, and new regimes of state security.