masterThesis
Infraestructura de agua: las interrelaciones entre los conflictos legales, la materialidad de las construcciones para el agua y la migración
Fecha
2021-09-08Autor
Yanza Tigre, Aida Patricia
Institución
Resumen
This thesis provides an ethnographic description of social structures by studying the
evolution of the water infrastructure in Xirapamba, a community located approximately
3,100 meters above sea level in the Ecuadorian Andes. Here, there is little flat land and
water has always been a problem due to its scarcity. In Ecuador, the 1972 "Water Law''
established that water does not belong to any person but, is a public asset. This research
documents how long-standing rivalries, family grudges resurfaced with the adjudication
of water distribution which, in turn, affected people's education, migration, and health. It
also illustrates how skin color, perception of social class, ethnicity, surnames, and gender
roles were impacted by the construction of “new” infrastructures over time. However, to
this day, long after the water pipes were buried in the ground and disrupted the daily life
of the community, there are unsolved problems among families that began with the way
the water was distributed and they continue to be visible because some families no longer
speak to each other and sit on opposite sides of the church at Sunday mass.