The Borders of the State, Region, Imaginary, and Social Struggles in Quito (1992-2010)

This research project, a continuation of a prior empirical phase focusing on Quito's regional economy and municipal structure, aims to complete data collection regarding urban imaginaries and social struggles. The central objective is to analyze how Quito's consolidation as a Metropolitan District (1992-2010) has allowed the local elite to benefit from international economic readjustments, thereby conditioning the public sphere and the modern nation-state process. The study focuses on the tension between the city's status as capital and its centrality to the State, diachronically analyzing the political devices of the elites and their municipal conflicts. It posits that the discourse of local autonomy is a form of political hegemony that naturalizes private interests as the sole national public interest, shaping a plutocratic and authoritarian public imaginary. The methodology is guided by theoretical approaches analyzing the economic incorporation into the world market (Arrighi), territory as a social creation shaped by capital flows and power relations (Harvey), and the role of metropolitan government as a structure of domination in relation to the nation-state (Castells).<br/><br/><b>Goal</b>: <br/>To demonstrate how the territorial dynamics of the Quito city-region, consolidated after its declaration as a Metropolitan District, establish the structural limits of the nation-state, showing that national interests are conditioned by regional interests.<br/><br/><b>Research lines</b>: <br/>State, citizenship, public policies and interculturality