Plurinationality and Epistemic Justice: The Challenges of Intercultural Education in Ecuadorian Amazonia

This book examines interculturality in education in Ecuador at the crossroads between an educational model inherited from the colonial past, which still represents white and mestizo hegemony, and a vision of an alternative form of decolonizing education that contributes to the development of an intercultural and plurinational state, as promised in the Ecuadorian Constitution. Championing indigenous voices and discussing the role of education in the fight against poverty and in the recovery of cultural and ecological diversity, the authors propose that quality education for all, a target of the Sustainable Development Goals, should move out of the commonly defined models of technological modernization and cultural globalization that disvalue knowledge from other cultures. Through their analysis of practical experimentations of indigenous and intercultural education in Amazonian schools and universities, they conclude that enhanced preservation of indigenous languages, cultures and ecological knowledge prove fundamental prerequisites for biological conservation and strengthening societies’ resilience to climate change threats.

Ruth Arias-Gutiérrez (Ecuador) is an Andean-Amazonian worker for biodiversity, equity and the exercise of rights and responsibilities. She is a full professor at the Amazon State University in Puyo, Ecuador where she has been serving as The Rector from 2019-2021. She was a PI in the project Ecocultural Pluralism in the Ecuadorian Amazon funded by the Academy of Finland. She has been a member of the environmental management network of the Ecuadorian Amazon with indigenous knowledge and is part of the European Action COST Decolonizing Development.

Paola Minoia (Italia) is an associate professor of geography at the University of Turin and an adjunct professor of global development studies at the University of Helsinki. Her research focuses on political ecology, socio-environmental justice, eco-cultural knowledges and territorialities. She was the Principal Investigator in the project Ecocultural Pluralism in the Ecuadorian Amazon funded by the Academy of Finland, a co-leader in the COST network Decolonising Development, and a member of the Executive Committee of EADI.