The Internet as contentious infrastructure in contemporary Ecuador

• In Event: Social movements and the use of Internet

Abstract

The use of Internet is part of the political ecosystem worldwide. It has been a crucial element in the Ecuador’s latest political changes. Social media and politics may seem an ordinary strategy, but in a country like Ecuador recent changes in policymaking and social infrastructure of rural communities, has changed the traditional way of interacting and shaping social structure. New technology-based solutions open possibilities that did not exist ten years ago. In this year's Report on Information Economics, the potential influence of ICTs is taken into account for the creation of new employment and to increase productivity as well as the range of entrepreneurial activities that are relevant to rural communities.
The use of the Internet by rural citizens has increased as has its applications. Consequently, the richness and diversity of organizational processes, and the availability of new communication spaces developed in local spaces, have generated new ICT use and have provided access to information and aided in the dissemination of knowledge. On the other hand, most channels of communication amongst government officials and social organizations have been reverted to a vertical outlet; organized citizens are turning to the Internet to organize different repertoires of contentious politics against a seemingly silenced space for debate.
These changes, however define a more complex political situation for the political mobilization of indigenous communities and ecologists groups. This is the case of the government’s decision to exploit oil in the Yasuni National Park, and the local and global movements to structure different repertoires of social media to put pressure over political actors.

Author

• María José Calderón, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Ecuador