Studying Discourse Innovations: The Case of the Indigenous Movement in Ecuador

Abstract

Discursive development is fluid and continuous, making it hard to determine the concrete moment of discursive change or innovation. The disruptive moment of the introduction, disappearance or reformulation of a central political concept can allow a closer definition of this moment of change, its context and its direction. The analysis of political concepts within a given discourse can contribute to the definition of discursive actors, specific texts that introduce the concept in question and its trajectory within a social movement or the society as such. This is exemplified in the indigenous movement in Ecuador. This movement underwent a considerable discursive change in the 1970s and 1980s, a renovation that still forms the basis for its central position in national politics today. With this discursive shift, the movement began to understand the indigenous peoples as nationalities with state-like structures that would allow self-determination and give them a right to autonomy. This innovation led to a radical discursive shift with demands for a plurinational and – subsequently – intercultural reorganization of society and state. The new discourse and the political concepts introduced by the movement not only gave it a position to speak from, but also changed the discourse of society and state in Ecuador.

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