Success through Community Action

I would define two types of success for indigenous groups engaging in community action- direct success in getting land reforms past or eradicating companies bent on privatization and success in consciousness raising for their cause. Evo Morales has achieved direct success by implementing his own land reforms in Bolivia while Macas has raised consciousness levels in Ecuador among the government as well as people in the country.

Water and land are necessities for a community to thrive, thus when access to these resources is limited by an outside force, it is easy for a community to mobilize around the issue. Neo-liberal reforms mandated by agencies such as the IMF and World Bank are a result of capitalist yearnings for domination of natural resources. Indigenous groups long quieted by the denial of access to the media and government are now mobilizing to take back and protect resources important to them for survival and spiritual purposes.