"INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY ENTERPRISES IN THE ANDES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES"

The field of Indigenous entrepreneurship arose from inquiries into the nature of entrepreneurship among diverse cultural groups, highlighting that the standard conception of the innovative, risk-taking individual does not accurately describe entrepreneurship by marginalized populations (Indigenous, immigrant, etc.) (Anderson, 2006; Mitchell, 1999). Indigenous entrepreneurship tends to have a collective orientation in structure or distribution of benefits (Swinney, 2007). Research with Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Andes shows that the community-based enterprise is a common model — in which the community acts “corporately as both entrepreneur and enterprise in pursuit of the common good” (Peredo & Chrisman, 2006). For profit activities are established to generate revenues for health and education services or to retain and regenerate traditional cultural practices.

This research explores several cases of Indigenous-run community enterprises in Bolivia and Ecuador — tracing their characteristics, benefits and challenges for contributing to well-being in the broadest sense. The potential contribution of such enterprises to self-determination is also discussed.

SPEAKER BIO:

Gretchen Ferguson (Hernandez) is Associate Director, International and Researcher with the Centre for Sustainable Community Development. She has spent over 20 years engaged in applied research and professional practice in Latin America and Canada related to sustainable communities, community economic development, Indigenous economic development and decolonization, social economy, and measuring the impacts of development projects and initiatives. She teaches courses regularly in Sustainable Community Development, Development and Sustainability, and Human Geography in the Faculty of Environment. Gretchen holds a PhD in Geography from Simon Fraser University, a Masters in Community and Regional Planning from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor degree in International Relations from Concordia University.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

Speaker Series on Aboriginal Issues 2017

Entering its fourth year, this annual lecture series is presented by SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement in partnership with the SFU Office for Aboriginal Peoples, the Indigenous Research Institute, and the department of First Nations Studies. Over four weeks in March, this series features a number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, academics, and community members who speak on a variety of topics related to the theme of indigeneity and issues that effect Aboriginal populations in Canada and abroad.