This essay supports an upcoming discussion of how COVID-19 is unfolding in Ecuador and a broader discussion within the Transnational STS COVID-19 project.
Hobart and Kneese (2020) offer the concept of radical care to argue that every person is situated in their own complex and unique network of vulnerabilities and violence. While radical care calls on us to take action it also avoids understanding each person as an isolated individual that must overcome their problems and needs alone. If vulnerabilities are structural, they cannot be resolved individually. Radical care is therefore community-based, a collective strategy that allows us to recognize and respond to violence.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of the chaotic political and economic turmoil that Ecuador faced since the start of a national lockdown on March 13th, existing feminist collectives have quickly adapted to the new context of social isolation and health emergency by providing financial and emotional support.
Manuel is a Shuar leader in the Kuamar community in Ecuador. In June 2020 he tested positive for COVID-19. For days he and his community of 120 people requested medical attention from Ecuador's National Health System (NHS). They received none. When this audio went viral along with other voices...Read more
A ministerial decree was made public on May 29th 2020 in which the current Minister of Defense authorizes the use of lethal force if the military deem it necessary during public uprisings.
This decree is under review after Ecuador’s Ombudsperson denounced it as ...Read more
This document (only in Spanish) details the unconsitutionality of a recent ministerial authorization for the use of lethal force if the military consider it necessary.
Defensoria del Pueblo - Ecuador. Acción Publica de Inconstitucionalidad. 2 June 2020.