ABSTRACT
Social capital amongst artisans has a long history in the federations of tailors, shoemakers and others. Since early post-colonial times, these organisations have defended their interests and provided social support through difficult periods in the lives of their members. More recently, these artisan associations have been captured and used by small-scale capitalist firms to promote their interests, mainly by denying their workers the rights enjoyed by workers in the formal sector and taking advantage of artisan benefits that were accorded to them in the 1950s. As part of the political system in Ecuador, artisan organisations have been fought over by national political parties and manipulated by foreign governments. Across time, however, artisan membership has declined to an historic all-time low. The organisations continue to promote themselves as the defenders of artisan interests, but only a small minority of artisans believe this to be the case.
