Congratulations Andrea Carrión on being awarded the 2017 best doctoral thesis for Latin American Studies in Canada!
Andrea Carrión’s dissertation explores the production of space and the spatial restructuring of resource regulation in the gold mining enclave of Portovelo and Zaruma, Ecuador, between 1860 and 1980. Using the theoretical tools of critical human geography, regulation theory, and political economy, her dissertation analyzes the spatiality of regulation over time in a dialectical manner. Methodologically, the dissertation develops an extended case study with explicit attention to scale as produced through material practices and their associated discourses and power relations. It argues that transnational mining companies, in responding to the international demand for raw materials, do not indiscriminately “penetrate” but, rather, negotiate the conditions for their deployment. Hence, there is an ongoing restructuring and rescaling of regulations that is a product of mediation between extractive capitalism and state formation. (The Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies CALACS)
Andrea’s professional practice and academic interests revolve around local governance, urban management, social production of habitat, public policies and land use planning. She has worked with grassroots organizations, international networks, academic institutions and the national public sector in Ecuador. Andrea gives emphasis to documenting ‘praxis’ and bringing into the debate voices that represent different positions and perspectives. At Carleton, she joined efforts to promote Latin America and Caribbean studies and to support TA training.
Congratulations Andrea!