Between Ethnocultural Revitalization and Global Standardization: The Negotiation of Indigenous-Intercultural Higher Education and the Example of “Amawtay Wasi” Pluriversity

Abstract

In the last fifteen years, so called ‘intercultural universities’ have emerged in the Latin American continent. They are characterized by their proposition of an ‘alternative’ higher education, which is based on the revitalization of local and Indigenous knowledge as well as in close research collaborations between the universities and the surrounding communities. However, the intercultural universities generate not only knowledge, but negotiate also the concepts of ‘interculturality’ and ‘Indigeneity’ within the academic community and with external actors. In this article, I discuss these processes of negotiation by describing particularly the role of the national state, the Indigenous community as well as the continental and international entities. I analyse ‘intercultural’ compromises, but I focus also on the possible limitations of an ‘alternative’ higher education. This way, I also seek to demonstrate that Indigenous authenticity manifests as ‘intercultural authenticity’. This contribution is based on ethnological field research carried out in Ecuador and Mexico, during which I cooperated especially with the Pluriversidad “Amawtay Wasi”.