Transformación de las prácticas culturales de las mujeres por extractivismo minero en La Merced de Buenos Aires. Provincia de Imbabura

Abstract

This ethnography explores the cultural fabric of La Merced de Buenos Aires, Urcuquí, Ecuador, altered by extractive mining activities. Focusing on women, the study analyzes cultural transformations and their responses to mining, with a focus on the epicenter of resistance: La Casa de la Resistencia. Exploring three dimensions: resistance as a catalyst, agency and collective creativity, and the importance of the community. The early chapters analyze concepts such as culture and the birth of cultural transformations; also topics such as hegemony, extractivism, and state violence; the final chapters describe the parish and its reactions to extractive activity on its lands and concludes that the emerging resistance is part of its cultural identity today. The study's approach was qualitative and involved various techniques, such as participant observation, open interviews, informal conversations, photographic documentation, and audio recordings.