A mural in La Mariscal, Quito. Photo by the author
By: Luanga Junior Kasanga
One defining topic of my time and studies in Ecuador has been ‘Hierarchies’. A hierarchy is ‘a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority’ (Hobson). In geopolitics, there are definitely hierarchies depending on what measure you are using.
In terms of hard power, the USA, Russia, China and other nuclear powers are in the highest tier on the basis of their having the capacity to launch weapons of mass destruction. No matter how small or economically poor the country is (such as North Korea), just on the virtue of this country having a nuclear weapon, it puts them on the highest rung of the hierarchy. Second tier countries may be countries with strong military but no nuclear weapons such as Iran and Brazil, and then you have the tiers going down with the final tier having microstates such as San Marino or Andorra.
And then there is soft power. USA and China remain in the top tier, but other nations drop out and move in. North Korea and Pakistan move out, while France, Germany and the United Kingdom come in. From there, you have your tiers. You can have hierarchies on a regional level, too. For example, in (South) East Asia’s hard power rankings, China most likely rests supreme at the top. On a second tier, you have Japan, South Korea and arguably Indonesia. And then the tiers follow on.
These tiers influence relationships between and within countries: how they behave towards others and themselves. For example, if a Tier 4 country becomes ‘undemocratic’ through deteriorating human rights, then a Tier 1 country can sanction it into behaving a certain way. However, a Tier 4 country could not do so to a Tier 1 country alone. In terms of resources, Tier 1 countries tend to benefit more than a Tier 4 state. There are many more ways in which hierarchies affect behaviours and relationships.
Now applying it to a national context: within the borders of a single country. You can have hierarchies in terms of class, race/ethnicity, and geography. The USA has racial tiers, with white citizens on top, other minority groups in the middle and Native Americans on the bottom. South Korea, a mostly ethnically-homogeneous country, has a class hierarchy that contribute to a highly unequal society. The upper class, the middle class and the working class.
I have observed all three in Ecuador during my time, which are also present in other countries. Geographically, it seems that citizens in the rainforest tend to be isolated from politics compared to those living in urban areas in the highland or coastal areas. Also, I noticed that the hierarchies contributed to the way that different groups are treated. In a high-end bakery, the servers are more jovial to light-skinned foreigners than to Indigenous (not mestizo) customers. Even different parts of the cities serve different groups alternatively. The hiking trails of the Teleférico (the cable car attraction) are filled with plenty of mestizos and/or light-skinned Ecuadorians, and there are great facilities in that part of Quito. When one passes through another district of Quito, with a higher proportion of darker-skinned or Indigenous Ecuadorians, there are poorer facilities. Of course, it’s not unique to Quito/Ecuador, and it is arguably worse and more pronounced in the United States.
Linking it to sustainability, these hierarchies are a large part of why it has been hard for the Indigenous population of Ecuador to gain justice for themselves, especially as they can be isolated politically, socially and economically. The National Assembly system should, in theory, be a democratic mechanism for them to gain their justice, but instead they are forced to peacefully protest in order to get their voice heard. Elected leaders tend to ignore the Indigenous constituents in favour of foreign and big-money voices, and Indigenous citizens tend to receive limited seats and representation.
The effects of these hierarchies are not unique to intra-population relationships. Consider that US-sponsored or funded companies can commit atrocities in Ecuador and get away with it, while an Ecuadorian company could never dare to spill oil in the USA. The status of what tier you are in determines your ultimate experience, and these hierarchies are firmly established in societies, nationally and globally.
- Hobson, Archie. “Hierarchy.” The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp 206.
Luanga Junior Kasanga is a Congolese undergraduate student at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a member of EcoStudio Foundation’s Alumni Council. He also attended a United World College in Arusha, Tanzania. He is currently majoring in Political Science and Asian Studies and wishes to enter into a policymaking career in the future. This is especially because he comes from a nation that could be most affected by climate policies, as well as be the solution to our climate crisis. In his spare time, He loves playing and watching football (soccer) and other sports, as well as reading fiction and current affairs.