Resistance in an Amazonian Community

A native of Pennsylvania, Lawrence Ziegler-Otero teaches in the Department of Anthropology at SUNY Plattsburgh. After a "first career" as a trade union organizer in the United States, he became an anthroplogist in order to study political, labor and indigenous organizations. He has also lived and worked in Ecuador and Puerto Rico.

Like many other indigenous groups, the Huaorani of eastern Ecuador are facing many challenges as they attempt to confront the globalization of capitalism in the 21st century. In 1991, they formed a political organization as a direct response to the growing threat to Huaorani territory posed by oil exploitation, colonization, and other pressures. The author explores the structures and practices of the organization, as well as the contradictions created by the imposition of an alien and hierarchical organizational form on a traditionally egalitarian society. This study has broad implications for those who work toward "cultural survival" or try to "save the rainforest."

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. History and Background
Chapter 2. Onhae: Structures and Achievements
Chapter 3. Practice and Praxis: Onhae in Action
Chapter 4. Toward an Organizational Evaluation
Chapter 5. Conclusion

Works Cited
Index