In the existing literature, it is common to find that indigenous people organise and formalise their projects to tackle issues of poverty, and to generate employment to meet their needs of their associates and communities. In a study by Vázquez Maguirre et al.
(2017), cited previously in Chapter 3, they suggest that by addressing socio-economic issues, indigenous enterprises can deliver sustainable development in the long term, and their motivations seem to benefit the whole community as they usually think collectively.
Here, the findings suggest that all the ICOs are set up to generate employment, and therefore to tackle the needs of the ICOs’ associates and the community where the ICOs operates (see Table 6.2). Normally, the literature related to indigenous organisations and/or entrepreneurship identify a number of motivations to organise/formalise themselves, which includes a lack of opportunity and employment, and tackling poverty (see Anderson et al. 2006; Peredo, 2001; Peredo and McLean, 2013; Vázquez Maguirre et al. 2016, 2017).
In Box 6.14 interviewees explain how socio-economic needs in the community encouraged them to set up organisations, generating a solid proposal to provide opportunities for their community. Interestingly, 78% (62) of the participants (includes video interviewees and focus group participants) identify themselves in the working 52%
(41) and middle-lower 26% (21) classes. This figure reveals that the majority of the participants identify themselves as being in a disadvantage position (i.e., subaltern) in socio-economic terms at a national level. As described in Chapter 5, Colombia is a highly stratified society in which indigenous people are structurally impoverished (based on DANE, 2007). Only, 9% (7) of the participants considered themselves as middle or upper class.
Box 6.14 Creating ICOs to Meet Socio-economic Needs
Why ... why do we organize? in order to create employment for ourselves and the community… Because there were not employment opportunities here in the resguardo…
[Member, VIPU5, CS4].
It's just that … there was a lot to do here…. In other words, to be able to live well, not only to think about the development that we already have a computer or a mobile phone it is not … it is to have a job where you can be peaceful… It is that here there was, and there is, a very large unemployment … and if you find one, usually is a bad job… thus, by setting our association we contribute to narrowing this gap [Cofounder, VICU1, CS3].
An issue arising from the findings highlights the lack of institutional support, particularly by the state, which has discouraged community projects to formalise to meet local socio-economic needs. A large number of participants in the focus group discussions highlight that the state encourages the creation of micro projects to empower the community and tackle local issues, but in reality, there is very little support from them to achieve such objectives (i.e., financially or professionally). Therefore, community members are not skilled enough to create efficient projects and meet the local needs. For example, in one of the focus groups, participants mention that the UAEOS, which is the governmental umbrella for the SSE organisations in Colombia (see Chapter 3 and 5), open calls on a yearly basis to SSE organisations to gain contracts, but that the lack of knowledge and professional skills impedes them from gaining them; thus, formal organisations eventually close because they are structurally discouraged. One the of participants claimed:
In the past many organisations were diluted, as there were no opportunities…
people in the community sometime do not want to organise because it is a waste of time … and to be honest sometimes it is a waste of time … the government always talk about cooperativism and associations productivity and etc.… but … they do open [referring to the UAEOS] calls for gaining projects and we do not have the capacity to meet these requirements … applications sometimes are to complex or we need a proper track record … sometimes we feel that they put this process to make us disqualified [Treasurer, PUFG 1.3, CS4].
Another interesting aspect that emerges from the findings is that there are tensions between solely-individually-oriented (family or individual) expectations vis-a-vis collective socio-economic needs. The findings indicate that in some cases the collective needs are more important than the individual ones, thus this creates some tensions within the
community. It suggests that the assimilation of an external culture (the Western) created tensions amongst community members. The evidence suggests that collectively, the community intends to meet needs, such as unemployment, malnourishment or sanitation, but individually, there is a tendency to seek education, shelter improvement or pleasure. As seen in Box 6.15, focus group participants highlight what needs are expected to be met when setting up organisations.
Box 6.15 Individual Vis-à-vis Collective Socio-economic Needs
Before we needed only a decent shelter and a piece of land to work at… these two simple things were enough to live … once the cooperative was set up… all the associates families achieved this objective … but 50 years later needs are others …. our children want to go to school and university … they want a computer to work with … they want to travel to gain experience … thus, the expectations are higher … families are expected to gain more financial reward to meet these needs and to be honest inflicts with our purpose as community … we cannot satisfy each family needs … that is why some of their members go somewhere else to work to gain more money and obtain what they want [General Manager Assistant, MKFG1.2, CS1].
That’s the problem with the western intervention … we are now influenced to meet other living standards that we did not have … in my family we are 5 siblings, imagine if all of us what to got to study … it is too expensive … and if we managed to go to university … we need equipment to meet the needs that go to study requires: computer, books and etc thus the bill gets higher … before my grandparents only need their shelter and their land to live decently … now we need more to live with dignity [Member, MKFG1.11, CS1].
This is our source of income (referring to the cooperative) … depending on how well we performed here we will be able to satisfy our needs …. time change and when it happens other things change…. I understand in the past the needs were other but today they are different … that’s why is really important to work hard and do better to achieve
what we are looking for [Member, MKFG1.12, CS1].
What the findings indicate is that the motive to set up an organisation to meet socio-economic needs had both individual and collective stimulus. It is interesting to illustrate how socio-economic wellbeing is contrasted with societal wellbeing as stated above.
While in some cases the community’s wellbeing overshadowed individual needs, individual ambitions to meet other wellbeing standards created tensions within community. The evidence suggests that this phenomenon is manifest in young participants. Such tensions are a consequence of a generational gap within the community, where 38% (30) of the participants are between 18 and 30 years old (see
the demographics of ICOs in Appendix I), exposing varied motives in different generations