Cuerpos, territorio y procesos de resistencia comunitarias rurales: Análisis de caso de las mujeres de la organización “Comunidades Ancestrales de San Joaquín” frente al proyecto hidroeléctrico Soldados-Yanuncay

Abstract

This research focuses on analyzing how rural women from the "Comunidades Ancestrales de San Joaquín" organization construct community resistance against the Soldados-Yanuncay hydroelectric project located in the province of Azuay, Ecuador. The study uses an intersectional approach, which recognizes rural women as epistemological subjects, to explore their subjectivities, their participation in the organization, and their agency in community resistance through a mixed research design that combines case study and grounded theory. The techniques used to obtain qualitative data were open, semi-structured, and group interviews; participant observation; and memory encounters, framed within participatory action research methodologies. Regarding the findings, the relevance of rural women in community resistance processes has been theorized, not only to deepen the analyzed socio-environmental conflict but also to understand the influence of their subjectivities, including emotional, experiential, identity, and critical reflection aspects, for action and agency. This knowledge can have a significant impact on knowledge production, as it would contribute to future research that integrates a gender perspective in the analysis of social movements linked to infrastructure projects in rural environments promoted by the State.