RESEARCH: A Multifaceted Examination of the Application of Ethno-Racial Law in Contemporary Multiculturalist Ecuador from OJALA

Dr. Jean Rahier, Professor of Anthropology, is the Director of FIU’s Observatory of Justice for Afro-descendants in Latin America (OJALA) and LACC Affiliated Faculty. In July 2021, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded OJALA the funding to conduct the three-year-long research project “Un examen multifacético de la aplicación de leyes étnico-raciales para el beneficio de afrodescendientes en el Ecuador multiculturalista contemporáneo, 2021-2024” (A Multifaceted Examination of the Application of Ethno-Racial Law in Contemporary Multiculturalist Ecuador). Dr. Rahier is the principal investigator of the project that examines the political and legislative processes that led to the adoption of ethno-racial legal instruments (recognition of collective rights and the right to live without discrimination). According to Dr. Rahier, this is the first study to engage in such a systematic and multidimensional examination of ethnoracial laws’ adoption and application for the benefit of Afro-descendants in one representative South American justice system.

Dr. Rahier and his team presented the findings from the research project at the 2024 Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA 2024) that took place in Bogota, Colombia, from June 12 to June 15.