Cabala Is a Small, Rural Village O F Mestizo and Indigena People in the Ecuadorian Andes

PUBLIC SCRUTINY. CONSCIOUSNESS AND RESISTANCE IN AN ECUADORIAN HIGHLAND VILLAGE. Jane Canavan. London School of Economics, London University. Submitted for a Ph.D. degree in 1996. UMI Number: U093488 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U093488 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 h+ £% £S F 73S5 S>(o>a> / 3>2> 1 Abstract Cabala is a small, rural village o f mestizo and indigena people in the Ecuadorian Andes. Since the local haciendas were disbanded in 1962 the economy and population o f the village have both declined and the remaining villagers have increased their engagement in the money economy. Nevertheless most contemporary villagers were suspicious o f urban Ecuador which they perceived as being organised exclusively according to trade transactions and saw themselves as belonging to a distinct moral community characterised by participation in exchange relations. Cabalano society was largely ordered according to the logic o f a 'good faith economy* and any breach o f the obligations inherent in exchange relations threatened not just the relationships between participants but the social order o f the Whole village. Transgressions o f the social order were minimised by the stress most villagers placed on the correct performance o f social roles and the maintenance o f personal reputations. Thus the social and political order o f the village was weighted towards conservatism and I describe how awareness o f public scrutiny o f their behaviour influenced how most villagers behaved towards members o f their own household, managed their responses to the world and treated illness. At the same time, however, many villagers were able to manipulate public opinion, at least sometimes, and were able to both initiate, and adapt to, changes in the social order. Furthermore increased engagement in the money economy suggests that villagers were aware they could chc^e to order their social relations according to a different logic but chose not to. In the conclusion to the work, therefore, I aigue that most villagers made an active choice to stress the importance o f exchange relations in order to resist the perceived anomie o f the modem, Ecuadorian state. 2 Contents Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 6 INTRODUCTION 13 A Brief Histoiy o f Cabala 14 Theoretical Background 20 Chapter Outline . 23 Fieldwork Experiences 26 Chapter 1: C u lt u r a l D iffer e n c e s in C ontemporary CA b a l a 31 Cultural Difference 32 Blancos 35 Mestizo and Indigena Cabalahos 37 A Celebration in Honour o f the Virgin o f Mercedes 42 Summary 53 Chapter 2: Th e D e c l in in g E c o n o m y in C a b a l a 55 Farming 57 Increased Engagement in the Money Economy 59 Previous Enagagement with the Money Economy 62 Flexibility in Current Economic Practices 65 A Moral Community: Attitudes to Wealth, Profit and Exchange 76 Summary 79 Chapter 3: In ter -H o u se h o l d R ela tio n s a n d S o c ia l O r d e r 81 Introduction 82 Reciprocity, Respect and Greetings 83 3 Strategy and Risk in Reciprocal Exchange Relations 88 Close Active Relationships and Kinship Terms 91 The Compadrazgo Complex . c-- 95 The Fear o f Sorcery and Reciprocal Exchange Relations 100 Exchange Relations, Orthopraxy and Reputations 105 Summary 108 Chapter 4: ' T h e M a in ten a n c e a n d R eproduction o f so c ia l o r d e r 109 t h r o u g h P u blic S c ru tiny Gossip: A Destructive Force and Political Tool 110 The Ambivalent Status o f Gossip 114 Envidia 116 Errvidia, Gossip and Change 121 Summary 123 Chapter 5: P u b l ic S cru tiny a n d t h e P er fo r m a n c e o f H o u se h o l d 125 R o l e s The Composition of Houses in Cabala 126 The House as a Social and Economic Unit 129 The Contribution of Spouses to the House 131 Children’s Contribution to the House 133 Women and Men as Wives and Husbands 137 Femininity 139 Masculinity 142 Domestic Violence and Hierarchy 144 Summary 149 4 Chapter 6: P u b l ic S crutiny a n d th e D isc o u r se o n E m o t io n s in CA b a l a 151 The Physical Danger o f Emotions 152 The Social Danger o f Emotions 153 The Socially Acceptable Expression o f Emotions 156 The Management o f Emotions by 'Forgetting’ 159 Motivating and Passive Feelings 163 The Person, Self and the Discourse on Emotions in Cabala 166 Chapter 7: ILLNESS AND THERAPY IN CABALA 169 Perspectives in Medical Anthropology 171 The "Principle o f Opposites’ 173 Cleansing Malevolent Forces 179 The Use of Biomedicine 184 Therapeutic Choices and the Social Order o f the Village 190 Chapter 8: A g e n c y a n d R e sist a n c e 195 Appendices: 1. Population, Household and Occupation Statistics 204 2. Commonly Used Medicinal Plants 206 B ibliography 211 Maps: 1. Republic o f Ecuador 7 2. Cabala 8 5 Plates: 1. A View o f Cabala 9 2. The Village Square During the Easter Sunday Fiesta 10 3. The View from above Cabala 11 4. Planting Potatoes near the Village 12 Tables: 1. The Annual Income and Expenditure o f Carmen's Household 70 2. The Annual Income and Expenditure o f Don Ernesto’s Household 74 3. Spanish and Quichua Kinship Terms for Genealogically Close 93 Consanguinal Kin / Family 4. The Composition of Households in Cabala 127 5. Treatments o f Commonly Occurring Illnesses 186 6. Population by Age and 'Ethnic' Identity 204 7. Frequency Distribution of Household Sizes 204 8. Frequency o f Primary Occupations 205 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to thank Dr. G. Bauman, Dr. A. Gell and Dr. C. Toren. This work, however, would never have been finished if it were not for the support of William Duberley, Jane Morris, Belinda Radford and, above all, the generous help, advice and acceptance given by Cecilia Busby, Philip Thomas and Hania Sholkany. Finally I would like to thank the people o f Cabala who tolerated me and especially those members o f ’Women, Workers, and Bread for All' whose kindness and sympathy went a long way to overcome our mutual incomprehension. 7 MAP 1 : THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR. Colombia Pan-American Highway Pacific Quito E quator Ocean Riobamba Guayaquil Cabala D isputed T erritory* P eru * The territory south of the border determined by the Protocol of Rio de Janiro 1942 is the object of dispute between Ecuador and Peru 3 Map2: CABALA Abandoned Evangelical Church Gcmmunal M ill / □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ C8d Convent School Centre d Nursery School Plaza Rio Gauche Teniente Politico Secondary School Road to Rio Cabala Riobamba 4Ckm , Road to Guamote 7km 500m Scale : P late 1: A V iew of Cabala v£> P late 2: The V illage Square During The Easter Sunday Fiesta P l a t e 3: T h e V ie w F r o m A b o v e CA b a l a P l a t e 4: P l a n t in g P o t a t o e s N e a r t h e V il l a g e N> 13 INTRODUCTION Cabala is a rural village o f around 370 people situated just south o f the Equator on die edge o f the Inter-Andean valley in central Ecuador. It lies at an altitude of 3,200m at the head o f a small, fertile valley in the foothills o f Chimborazo (6,310m), the world's second highest volcano. A short slip-road joins the village to the Pan-American highway, Ecuador's major north to south road, and buses run regularly from the village square to the province capital, Riobamba, 40kms to the north. Riobamba is a prosperous, growing city but Cabala has clearly seen more affluent days. The railway station has been shut and the track has become overgrown since the train stopped running in 1987. The food-selling Idosks in the village square have not been used since the weekly market stopped functioning in the mid 1980's. The population of the village has fallen drastically since the early 1960's (see below) and in 1992 the streets o f the village were scarred with the crumbling ruins o f abandoned houses. Nevertheless most o f the remaining villagers were proud o f their identity as Cabalanos and worried that poverty would force either themselves or their children to migrate to the city. Most Cabalahos had family and kin living in towns and cities throughout the Republic and were familiar with city life but in the village 'city-people' ( ciudanos) were often said to be selfish, exploitative and lonely, motivated only by business and self- interest.

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