Embodied Marginalities: Disability, Citizenship, and Space in Highland Ecuador Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Rattray, Nicholas Anthony Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 10:57:42 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/223378 EMBODIED MARGINALITIES: DISABILITY, CITIZENSHIP, AND SPACE IN HIGHLAND ECUADOR By Nicholas A. Rattray _____________________ Copyright © Nicholas A. Rattray 2012 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2012 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Nicholas A. Rattray entitled Embodied Marginalities: Disability, Citizenship, and Space in Highland Ecuador and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: March 1, 2012 Susan J. Shaw _______________________________________________________________________ Date: March 1, 2012 Linda B. Green _______________________________________________________________________ Date: March 1, 2012 Sarah A. Moore _______________________________________________________________________ Date: March 1, 2012 Jason C. Pribilsky Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: March 1, 2012 Dissertation Director: Susan J. Shaw 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Nicholas A. Rattray 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many people who supported, encouraged, and challenged me throughout my journey as a graduate student. I deeply appreciate the generosity and warmth extended to me during fieldwork in Cuenca. Although I use pseudonyms to protect confidentiality of the research participants, I would like to acknowledge each one of the participants from the two community groups and wheelchair basketball team that shared their time with me. Le agradezco que me haga sentir como parte de su familia. My will to finished has come in part from persistent queries from Cuenca about when I would complete my “tésis.” I hope this work brings awareness about accessibility issues, marginality, and social justice by sharing some of their stories. When starting graduate school, it can be difficult to comprehend the commitment involved in advising a student. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with my advisor, Susan Shaw, who has been an outstanding mentor, able to balance meticulous intellectual engagement with pragmatic advice. I appreciate the sustained encouragement and provocative perspective provided by Linda Green. Jason Pribilsky generously shared his deep knowledge of the Andes and introduced me to networks of Ecuadorian scholars. Sarah Moore offered a nuanced reading of the dissertation and insights that I hope will extend to future work. These mentors and other have provided invaluable training in cultural and medical anthropology, geography, and Latin American Studies. I thank Steve Lansing, Diane Austin, Gary Christopherson, Tim Finan, Sarah Elwood, Sue Kroeger, Drexel Woodson, Sally Marston, and others from the University of Arizona. Thanks also to Ann Miles, Lynn Hirschkind, Walter Hartwig, Lisa Servon, and Susan Fainstein. In Ecuador, I would like to thank the dedicated staff of the Fulbright office in Quito, especially Karen Aguilar and Susana de Vaca. I am grateful to Bill Pitkin for his enthusiasm for studying Ecuador, and for introducing me to the wonderful Ayala Bedoya family. I appreciate the cooperation of staff at CONADIS in Quito and Cuenca and from a variety of Ecuadorian organizations working on disability issues. Thank you also to Tania Peillet and Natalia Martinez for assistance with translation. In Tucson and beyond, I value the vibrant intellectual communities I’ve joined. Many of the student groups have extended well beyond the classroom to involve engaged anthropology and autonomous writing partnerships. I especially would like to thank Brian Burke, Lauren Penney, Jacob Campbell, Karin Friederic, Jessica Piekielek, and many unnamed others for camaraderie and feedback; thanks also to Danny Knee and Heather McIntyre. I also thank my professors and colleagues from Berkeley, Rutgers, and the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge. This dissertation research was funded by a Fulbright IIE grant and the UA Excellence Graduate Fellowship. I am grateful for other support from the School of Anthropology, NASA Space Grant Program, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, SBSRI, Center for Applied Spatial Analysis, Disability Resource Center, School of Geography, and the dedicated UA librarians. I am grateful for my entire family, especially my parents, Terry and David, brother Josh, and sister Julie (who read many drafts). My deepest thanks and respect goes to my wife Wendy Vogt for unfaltering support, inspiration and collaboration, and to our daughter Iris Qia who makes all the effort put into our projects entirely worth it. 5 DEDICATION To the many people who shared their stories with me in Ecuador, and to Mike Harrington and Andy Donohoe of Berkeley, thank you for teaching me about ingenious methods for living independently and the art of demanding inclusion. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 10 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 14 A State of Emergency .................................................................................................. 14 Rallying Against Public Invisibility ................................................................................ 18 Theoretical background ................................................................................................ 21 Anthropological and historical approaches to studying disablement .............................. 23 Theories of Embodiment and Space ............................................................................... 28 Biosociality, Citizenship, and the Governance of Disability .......................................... 32 Defining the Terms ...................................................................................................... 38 Research Themes and Outline of Chapters .................................................................. 40 CHAPTER 2 – RESEARCH SETTING AND METHODS ............................................. 44 The Ecuadorian Context ............................................................................................... 45 Studying Disability in Highland Ecuador .................................................................... 47 Cuenca ............................................................................................................................. 49 Local Hierarchies of Race and Class .............................................................................. 54 Disabled Ecuadorians ...................................................................................................... 56 Non-governmental assistance for disabled Ecuadorians ................................................. 57 Research Methods ........................................................................................................ 60 Participant Groups ........................................................................................................... 60 Ethics & Positionality ..................................................................................................... 65 Labeling Disability .......................................................................................................... 70 Interviews and Sample .................................................................................................... 78 Data analysis ................................................................................................................... 83 Conclusions .................................................................................................................