Mujeres tejedorasgénero, patrimonio de la humanidad y política pública en Manabí. Una mirada decolonial

Résumé

This thesis analyzes the discourses of identity and culture of women weavers of toquilla straw hats, associated with the paradigm of development and progress in the province of Manabí, Ecuador. Likewise, it portrays the practices that they currently use with respect to the main economic activity they carry out, that is, the weaving of the hat. To do this, four axes are analyzed: development, gender, intangible heritage and public policies. This work draws on decolonial theory and other critical theories of modernity. The conceptual approach draws the main lines for understanding the hegemonic discourse of development and progress, established in the collective imagination as a moral ideal. The analysis of the reality of women weavers has a contextualization of rurality, in which special attention is paid to the traditional process of weaving the toquilla straw hat. These chapters reflect on the role played by women weavers in the local economy and the discourses that give meaning to their current practices. The work applies ethnography as a method, through participant observation and interviews. The field work was carried out in four locations in the province of Manabí. The ethnographic approach is carried out from an essentially emic position, that is, from the perspective of women. The discussion, in general terms, is about the significant participation that women have in the hat weaving activity and the scant attention it has received from public policy. In this sense, the recognition of heritage of the weaving technique is a mere symbolic reference, which does not translate into better living conditions for artisans.