How do poor, remote rural places get child care centers? Patriarchy, out-migration, and political opportunities in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Male out-migration from poor, rural areas of the South has often been conceptualized as a process of social erosion in which rural communities lose potential leaders to urban areas and in so doing become less able to assert their interests in larger political arenas. We argue that the departure of middle-aged, labor migrating men from these communities represents a political opportunity for the middle-aged women who remain behind in the village to care for children. We illustrate this argument through a case study of the changing patterns of female political activism after male out-migration from a small community in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The case study lends credence to the political opportunity thesis. The policy implications of this finding are briefly explored.