Infraestructura de agua: las interrelaciones entre los conflictos legales, la materialidad de las construcciones para el agua y la migración

Abstract

This thesis provides an ethnographic description of social structures by studying the evolution of the water infrastructure in Xirapamba, a community located approximately 3,100 meters above sea level in the Ecuadorian Andes. Here, there is little flat land and water has always been a problem due to its scarcity. In Ecuador, the 1972 "Water Law'' established that water does not belong to any person but, is a public asset. This research documents how long-standing rivalries, family grudges resurfaced with the adjudication of water distribution which, in turn, affected people's education, migration, and health. It also illustrates how skin color, perception of social class, ethnicity, surnames, and gender roles were impacted by the construction of “new” infrastructures over time. However, to this day, long after the water pipes were buried in the ground and disrupted the daily life of the community, there are unsolved problems among families that began with the way the water was distributed and they continue to be visible because some families no longer speak to each other and sit on opposite sides of the church at Sunday mass.