Dr. Natalia Buitron

Biography

Natalia Buitron is a socio-political anthropologist specializing in institutional creativity and political subjectivity, particularly in Latin America. Her extensive fieldwork in the Ecuadorian Amazon focuses on indigenous social movements and governance issues. Her doctoral research at the London School of Economics in 2017 examined village formation and collective selfhood, analyzing the challenges faced by the Shuar people due to state appropriation and development projects. Buitron’s book project, ‘The Attraction of Unity: Autonomy and Government in Western Amazonia,’ explores political independence and local governance, contributing to the discourse on autonomy and equality within indigenous practices. She has co-edited works such as ‘Governing Opacity,’ which engages with the complexities of state formation and egalitarianism, and ‘Ends of Egalitarianism,’ offering new perspectives on small-scale societies. Buitron actively participates in developing indigenous-led educational programs and contributes to academic conversations on critical pedagogy and symmetric anthropology.

Research Interests

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