Diversity, hegemony, poverty, and the emergence of counseling psychology in Ecuador

Abstract:

Ecuador is a country of 13.75 million (65% mestizo or mixed indigenous-white, 25% indigenous or Amerindian, 7% Spanish, and 3% black; 95% Roman Catholic) lying directly across the equator (Ecuador means equator) with an area about the size of Nevada. Bordered by Colombia to the north and Peru to the south and east, Ecuador is a small (by South American standards) but highly diverse country. Ecuador encompasses three geographically and climatically distinct regions (ie, the Coast, the Andean Highlands, and the Amazon), as well as the Galapagos Islands, an ecosystem with more than 480 species of marine life alone. Indeed, Ecuador is the birthplace of the term diversity of species by way of Charles Darwin’s laboratory on the Galapagos. Because the geography of Ecuador is so diverse, the lifestyles, principal work, and economic status of its population are also diverse. There are fishermen along the coasts, cattlemen in the southern highlands, farmers on central highland slopes, and oil workers in the Amazon. The country exports some 400,000 barrels of oil daily in addition to coffee, bananas, flowers, and other marine and agricultural products that form the basis of its developing economy. In its metropolitan areas, there are zones that resemble European communities for the appearance of their construction and the lifestyles of their residents; in stark contrast, there are also urban slums in the major cities, such as in Quito and Guayaquil, where many Ecuadorians live in putrid conditions.

Año de publicación:

2009

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Fuente:

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