Indigenous youth aspiration, community, and Kichwa futures in Ecuador

This article challenges a narrative of “decomunalization” and the loss of native culture and identity in the Andes. We ask in what way have formal community jurisdictions supported development and individual aspirations beyond the boundaries of rural places and economies? This research draws primarily on interviews conducted in 2023 with elected community council officials. In tracking changing aspirations of three generations of indigenous activists, we demonstrate how early leaders of the indigenous communities always looked beyond local circumstances in their plans, even as they consolidated immediate zones of relative organizational autonomy. We then show that while young people have moved from rural places, communities themselves are evolving and incorporating youth leadership. This paper seeks to contribute to emerging discussion on global indigeneity for the way it addresses a hemispheric issue of young people's exodus from rural places and the concerns that emigration raises about inter‐generational connectivity.