Abstract Two

The focus of this thesis is to understand the agency and creativity the indigenous peoples are using to reconfigure communicating their identity, beliefs, rights and participation within state matters to the state, while also demonstrating the continuous need to adapt as global companies have the ability to manipulate organized groups to whatever means necessary for the end product around constructed jurisdictions. I will specifically be examining the case study of communities outside of Tena, Ecuador near Cotacocha and the impact of the oil company Perenco on their lifestyles within the last five years, discuss the triad relationship between the indigenous communities, the state of Ecuador, and Perenco, as well as demonstrate the interpersonal communicative factors intertwined within the three sectors. I will potentially be using sources from texts and interviews we conducted in Ecuador during the summer of 2009 throughout the field study led by Dr. Timothy Smith of the Anthropology department. The texts I will be using, but not limited to, are: Nations and Nationalism by Earnest Gellner, Imagine Communities by Benedict Anderson, Crude Chronicles by Suzanne Sawyer and Spectacular City by Daniel Goldstein. A historical perspective will initially be discussed which will lead into the existing case study.