Urban Ecuador Research Articles

Cultivating spatial citizenship through collaborative mapping: an empirical study on youth engagement in peripheral urban Ecuador

Cultivating spatial citizenship through collaborative mapping: an empirical study on youth engagement in peripheral urban Ecuador

Discrimination against lesbian and gay job seekers: An artefactual field experiment in urban Ecuador

This paper presents the findings of an artefactual field experiment conducted in urban Ecuador to investigate discrimination against individuals self-identifying as lesbian or gay (LG) job seekers in the labor market. Focusing on occupations and sectors that attract the employment interest of both LG and non-LG individuals, the study employed fictitious job applications evaluated by 394 human resource analysts. The results reveal gender-based differential discrimination. Female LG candidates experienced positive discrimination and were more likely to be selected and offered higher wages compared to their heterosexual counterparts. In contrast, male LG candidates experienced negative discrimination, saw no wage differences, and were less likely to be selected. The study finds that female recruiters are especially influential in driving these discriminatory behaviors. These findings contribute to the understanding of the complex dynamics of discrimination towards LG workers in the labor market and of the interaction of that form of discrimination with gender.

Social support in rural communities in Manabi province, Ecuador.

Social support has been found in many contexts, and in urban Ecuador, to be protective of health, particularly in the context of disaster. Fewer studies have explored the presence and impact of social support in rural Ecuador. This study engages a rural community in Ecuador to examine the general levels of social support, differences in social support based on different demographic groupings and relationships among social support and health outcomes and protective health behaviors. A cross-sectional design was used to survey 416 people in a rural Ecuadorian community that had recently experienced an earthquake. Spanish-language versions of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12 were applied, as well as questions about demographics and risk reduction behaviors. Body mass index, blood pressure, and cholesterol and blood sugar levels were assessed. Analysis of variance assessed differences in social support among demographic groupings, risk reduction behaviors, and health outcomes. Levels of social support were moderate. Few statistically significant (ie p<0.05) differences in amount of social support received or in sources of social support were found. Men, people 80 years or older, divorced or widowed people, and people living in peripheral areas received less social support than women, people of all other ages, married/cohabitating people, and people living within the village, respectively. Effect sizes of these differences were small. No relationship between social support and health outcomes were found, and few were found for risk reduction factors. These findings indicate that social support may function differently in rural Ecuador than in urban contexts. Those promoting social support in rural communities may wish to focus on community-level, not individual-level, interventions. Limitations of applying an assessment of social support from urban Ecuadorian contexts to rural Ecuadorian contexts are discussed.

Agroecology, Supply Chains, and COVID‐19: Lessons on Food System Transitions from Ecuador

AbstractIn cities, agroecological food consumption is often identified as an exclusive, middle‐class practice. In this article, we examine changes in agroecological food circuits in urban Ecuador, amid COVID‐19 breakdowns in conventional food systems. Through interviews with farmers, government officials, and NGO workers in 2020 and 2021, our research identifies three sets of experiences with distinct implications for agroecological transitions. First, some agroecological circuits could no longer function due to regulations on food circulation that favored the corporate food sector. Second, some circuits temporarily expanded to reach more urban middle‐class consumers, using online platforms and government infrastructures. Third, urban collectives and neighborhood organizations re‐appropriated urban spaces – from cultural centers to city streets – to facilitate the circulation of agroecological foods in low‐income sectors. We highlight the spatial and social ‘re‐localization’ practices of these urban groups that challenge the hegemony of conventional food circuits, as they drive agroecological food consumption beyond the middle‐class.

Encountering Work: Intergenerational Informality, Child Labor, and Malnutrition in Urban Ecuador

AbstractThis article examines the interconnections among informality, child labor, and child malnutrition in households at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid in urban Ecuador. Through qualitative interviews with 120 adult informal laborers, mostly street vendors, I elicited stories that not only revealed current labor conditions but also reflected upon whole lives engaged in informal work. Interviews uncovered lifelong structural conditions that perpetuate the social and economic inheritances of intergenerational work in the informal sector and intergenerational patterns of a broader, more inclusive form of child labor termed “encountering work.” Social, political, and economic factors related to informality and child labor maintain structural vulnerabilities that contribute to the emergence and exacerbation of syndemic health conditions, most notably through multiple forms of child malnutrition. The children of these 120 informal sector workers, especially those that encounter work in a variety of ways alongside their parents, demonstrate profound childhood nutritional failures that will likely impact them throughout their lives. The challenges related to intergenerational informality, child labor as encountering work, and child malnutrition can only be understood in the context of pervasive, intergenerational poverty. Encountering work is a survival strategy that allows families to subsist in an unequal society that can simultaneously perpetuate vulnerabilities and inequalities in health and opportunity.

I’ve got a feeling: Urban and rural indigenous children’s beliefs about early life mentality

This cross-cultural investigation explored children’s reasoning about their mental capacities during the earliest period of human physical existence—the prenatal period. For comparison, children’s reasoning about the observable period of infancy was also examined. A total of 283 5- to 12-year-olds from two distinct cultures (urban Ecuador and rural indigenous Shuar) participated. Across cultures, children distinguished the fetal period from infancy, attributing fewer capacities to fetuses. However, for both the infancy and fetal periods, children from both cultures privileged the functioning of emotions and desires over epistemic states (i.e., abilities for thought and memory). Children’s justifications to questions about fetal mentality revealed that although epistemic states were generally regarded as requiring physical maturation to function, emotions and desires were seen as functioning as a de facto result of prenatal existence and in response to the prospect of future birth and being part of a social group. These results show that from early in development, children across cultures possess nuanced beliefs about the presence and functioning of mental capacities. Findings converge with recent results to suggest that there is an early arising bias to view emotions and desires as the essential inviolable core of human mentality. The current findings have implications for understanding the role that emerging cognitive biases play in shaping conceptions of human mentality across different cultures. They also speak to the cognitive foundations of moral beliefs about fetal rights.

Gender, Body, and Medicine in Urban Ecuador

Gender, Body, and Medicine in Urban Ecuador

A school-based intervention improves physical fitness in Ecuadorian adolescents: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundEffective lifestyle interventions are needed to prevent noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries. We analyzed the effects of a school-based health promotion intervention on physical fitness after 28 months and explored if the effect varied with important school characteristics. We also assessed effects on screen time, physical activity and BMI.Methods and resultsWe performed a cluster-randomized pair matched trial in schools in urban Ecuador. The intervention included an individual and environmental component tailored to the local context and resources. Primary outcomes were physical fitness (EUROFIT battery), screen time (questionnaires) and physical activity (accelerometers). Change in BMI was a secondary outcome. A total of 1440 grade 8 and 9 adolescents (intervention: n = 700, 48.6%) and 20 schools (intervention: n = 10, 50%) participated. Data of 1083 adolescents (intervention: n = 550, 50.8%) from 20 schools were analyzed.The intervention increased vertical jump (mean effect 2.5 cm; 95% CI 0.8-4.2; P = 0.01). Marginally insignificant, adolescents from the intervention group needed less time for speed shuttle run (intervention effect = −0.8 s, 95% CI −1.58-0.07; P = 0.05). The proportion of students achieving over 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity/day decreased over time with the change in proportion significantly less in the intervention schools (6 vs. 18 percentage points, P < 0.01). The intervention effect on speed shuttle run was significant in larger schools while the effect on vertical jump was larger in mixed gender school compared to small and female schools. The proportion of schools that met the recommendations for physical activity increased with 37% in intervention schools with half-day schedule compared to the controls in the pair. No significant effects were found on screen time and BMI. Measurement of physical activity in a subsample was a limitation. No adverse effects were reported.ConclusionsA school-based intervention with an individual and environment component can improve physical fitness and can minimize the decline in physical activity levels from childhood into adolescence in urban Ecuador.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01004367.

Factors affecting physical activity in Ecuadorian adolescents: a focus group study.

Physical inactivity levels are increasingly prevalent among Ecuadorian adolescents. School-based interventions can be potentially effective in promoting physical activity but must be informed by cultural-specific factors. Twelve focus groups were carried out with adolescents (n = 80) in rural and urban Ecuador to identify factors influencing physical activity. In addition, 4 focus group discussions with parents (n = 32) and 4 with school staff (n = 32) were conducted. Individual and environmental factors were questioned using the 'Attitude, Social influences and Self-efficacy' model and the socioecological model as theoretical frameworks. Factors influencing physical activity varied between groups. In the rural area farming and norms for girls impeded leisure-time physical activity, whereas urban groups emphasized traffic and crime concerns. Groups from a low socioeconomic status more frequently mentioned a fear of injuries and financial constraints. Several factors were common for all groups including preferences for sedentary activities, poor knowledge, time constraints and laziness, as well as a lack of opportunities at home and school, unsupportive parental rules and lack of role models. A conceptual framework including the identified factors emerged to inform the design of a cultural-sensitive school-based intervention to improve physical activity among Ecuadorian adolescents. Future interventions should be tailored to each setting.

A Conceptual Framework for Healthy Eating Behavior in Ecuadorian Adolescents: A Qualitative Study

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to identify factors influencing eating behavior of Ecuadorian adolescents - from the perspective of parents, school staff and adolescents - to develop a conceptual framework for adolescents' eating behavior.Study designTwenty focus groups (N = 144 participants) were conducted separately with adolescents aged 11–15 y (n (focus groups) = 12, N (participants) = 80), parents (n = 4, N = 32) and school staff (n = 4, N = 32) in rural and urban Ecuador. A semi-structured questioning route was developed based on the ‘Attitude, Social influences and Self-efficacy’ model and the socio-ecological model to assess the relevance of behavioral and environmental factors in low- and middle-income countries. Two researchers independently analyzed verbatim transcripts for emerging themes, using deductive thematic content analysis. Data were analyzed using NVivo 8.ResultsAll groups recognized the importance of eating healthily and key individual factors in Ecuadorian adolescents' food choices were: financial autonomy, food safety perceptions, lack of self-control, habit strength, taste preferences and perceived peer norms. Environmental factors included the poor nutritional quality of food and its easy access at school. In their home and family environment, time and convenience completed the picture as barriers to eating healthily. Participants acknowledged the impact of the changing socio-cultural environment on adolescents' eating patterns. Availability of healthy food at home and financial constraints differed between settings and socio-economic groups.ConclusionOur findings endorse the importance of investigating behavioral and environmental factors that influence and mediate healthy dietary behavior prior to intervention development. Several culture-specific factors emerged that were incorporated into a conceptual framework for developing health promotion interventions in Ecuador.

Hygiene, atopy and wheeze–eczema–rhinitis symptoms in schoolchildren from urban and rural Ecuador

BackgroundRural residence is protective against atopy and wheeze–rhinitis–eczema symptoms in developed countries, an effect attributed to farming and poor hygiene exposures. There are few data from developing countries addressing this...

Effect of Ecuador’s cash transfer program ( Bono de Desarrollo Humano) on child development in infants and toddlers: A randomized effectiveness trial

We examined the effects of Ecuador’s Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH) – an unconditional cash transfer program that was rolled-out using a randomized design – on health and development outcomes in very young children. Communities that were randomly assigned to the treatment group began receiving the BDH in 2004 and those randomly assigned to the comparison group began receiving benefits two years later. Families enrolled in the BDH received a monthly cash stipend ($15USD) representing an approximate 6–10% increase in household income. Participants analyzed in this study are children aged 12–35 months from treatment ( n = 797) and comparison ( n = 399) communities in rural and urban Ecuador. Main outcomes measured were language skills (the Fundación MacArthur Inventorio del Desarollo de Habilidades Comunicativas – Breve), height-for-age z-score, and hemoglobin concentration. Results indicate that in rural areas, being randomized to receive the BDH in very early childhood led to significantly better performance on the number of words a child was saying, and on the probability that the child was combining two or more words. There were no significant effects on language development for children in urban areas and there were no effects on height-for-age z-score or hemoglobin concentration in rural or urban areas. A limited number of potential pathways with respect to cognitive/language stimulation, health behaviors, and parenting quality were also explored. Findings indicate that compared to children in comparison areas, rural children in treatment areas were more likely to have received vitamin A or iron supplementation and have been bought a toy in the past six months. This study provides evidence for significant benefits of an unconditional cash transfer program for language development in very young children in rural areas.

THE MYTH OF THE GRINGO CHIEF: AMAZONIAN MESSIAHS AND THE POWER OF IMMEDIACY

In this article, I investigate the sociocultural grounding and sociopolitical position of Randy Borman, the “gringo chief” of the indigenous Cofán people of Amazonian Ecuador. Born to North American missionary-linguists, Borman grew up in Cofán communities, attended school in urban Ecuador and the United States, and developed into the most important Cofán activist on the global stage. I consider him alongside other ethnically ambiguous leaders of Amazonian political movements, whom anthropologists have described as “messianic” figures. The historians and ethnographers who write about Amazonian messianism debate the relationship between myth and reason in indigenous political action. Using their discussion as a starting point, I propose the concept of “mythical politics,” a type of transformative action that concentrates enabling forms of socio-temporal mediation in the shape of individual actors and instantaneous events. I develop my approach through a discussion of the work of Georges Sorel, Georg Lukács, and Antonio Gramsci, three theorists who debate the role of myth in political mobilization. By applying their insights to the case of Borman, I explore the relationship between myth, mediation, and rationality in Cofán politics and political movements more generally.

Trade Unions and Informal Workers' Associations in the Urban Informal Economy of Ecuador

The informal economy has become a very important phenomenon and this created the need to better understand its significance and how its workers can obtain a voice and be better represented for their needs and concerns to be heard. This paper provides insight into the situation of workers in urban Ecuador where 50% of the workforce is part of the informal sector. It has based its research on interviews in trade unions and vulnerable workers' associations, and emphasizes the need to give these informal economy workers a voice as part of an effort to combat poverty.

Untitled: A Study of Formal and Informal Property Rights in Urban Ecuador

We explore the substitutability of formal and informal property rights using new survey data from Ecuador, where households have both formal and informal claims to urban residential property. We develop a model of property transactions that distinguishes between transferable and non-transferable claims, and show how this distinction affects the interpretation of hedonic price regressions. The unconditional effect of title is to raise properties’ value by 23.5%. However, we also find that informal property rights can substitute effectively for formal property rights, and suggest that titling programmes should be targeted at young disorganised communities if they are to benefit the recipients.

Use of family planning at first sexual intercourse among young adults in Ecuador.

The purpose of this study was to assess factors associated with the use of family planning at first sexual intercourse among young adults aged 15 to 24 in urban Ecuador. The study population consisted of 1443 young adults (494 females and 949 males) in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil, interviewed by the 1988 Ecuador Young Adult Reproductive Health Survey, who reported having experienced consensual sexual intercourse. Approximately 11% of females and 15% of males reported using contraception at first intercourse. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess jointly the effect of multiple factors on contraceptive use at first intercourse. The regression model was first run on the entire study population and then separately for males and females. In the overall population, the following variables were significantly related to using family planning at first sex: being male; being from Guayaquil; older age; father's completion of secondary school. Having lost one's virginity to a prostitute was significantly associated with non-use of family planning. Males were 3.6 times more likely than females to use family planning during their first sexual intercourse. For each year older a young adult was at first sex, his or her odds of using family planning was multiplied by a factor of 1.3. Twenty-eight per cent of males in this study experienced their first sexual intercourse with a prostitute, and these young men were highly unlikely to use family planning. A male who experienced first intercourse with his girlfriend was more than five times as likely to use contraception than a male who lost his virginity to a prostitute.

Science, nature, and tradition: the mass-marketing of natural medicine in urban Ecuador.

In the past 15 years, "natural" medicine has become increasingly popular in the southern Ecuadoran city of Cuenca. Natural medicine products, which are distinct from traditional herbal remedies, are commercially packaged and processed and sold in a number of retail outlets in the central shopping district. This article discusses the results of field research to determine the client base of natural medicine and the reasons for its growing popularity among the poorer classes in Ecuador. Using an interpretative framework that posits that medical products carry symbolic messages, I discuss the ways in which important themes of modern life in Ecuador are played out in the packaging and marketing of these products. This research supports the growing body of literature that argues against a medical-systems approach to analyzing medical plurality by highlighting the multiple ideologies found in Ecuadoran beliefs about commercial natural medicine.

Why do Shelter Conditions Differ in Ecuadoran Cities and How Do We Know That They Do?: A Comparative Locality Study

This paper is an examination of forces operating at geographical scales from global to local which help to explain the shelter conditions of the working class in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. To achieve such an empirical understanding, it is necessary to employ concepts and interpretations which themselves are social products and require close scrutiny. Considerable attention is therefore devoted to influences such as regional tension and perspective bias on interpretations of the cities by urban and housing experts. The principal sources of evidence are a household-level survey of shelter in Quito and Guayaquil, and a survey of housing professionals with regard to the interpretation of the shelter conditions and differences. Geographically based biases are prominent in the survey of housing experts, suggesting that research should examine these more carefully than in the past. The study concludes with a richer understanding of both the empirical reality of urban Ecuador and the frameworks and concepts used to interpret it.

Economic Analysis, the Legal Framework and Land Tenure Systems

D ISCUSSIONS of the efficiency of various systems of land tenure are marred by all sorts of imprecision in analysis. Economists have developed a clear notion of economic efficiency but discussions of land tenure invariably bring in some sociological and wealth-distribution constraints when discussing the efficiency aspects of tenure systems. Social anthropologists and others stress that certain tenure systems are integral parts of social systems involving such things as insurance for old and young, with the implication that even though these tenure systems might not facilitate (pecuniary) wealthmaximization, yet the non-pecuniary wealth facilitated provides "enough" compensation in some general welfare sense. I shall discard such sociological arguments because I believe that there is no reason why the sociological benefits of particular tenure systems cannot be obtained by some alternative arrangement while creating a tenure system that is designed to facilitate wealth maximization and wealth increases.