Rethinking The Right: Christian Democracy, The Corporatist State And Integralism In Ecuador In The Interwar Period (1918-1943)

Abstract

This article analyzes three concepts mobilized by the Ecuadorian right in the interwar period (1918-1943), at a time in which this sector was rethinking its political model amid the social question and other national and global experiences, such as the Ecuador-Peru conflict, the Spanish Civil War and European fascisms. The three concepts, which formulated parallel political models were: Christian democracy, the corporatist state and integralism. These were defined in relation to each other and vis a vis counter-concepts, such as liberalism and socialism. Moreover, as modern concepts, they were marked by temporalization and by historicity inasmuch as they pointed to a desirable future. Nevertheless, this future constituted a restoration of a longed-for past. The article seeks to link Ecuadorian political history to global historiographical debates concerning political concepts, religion and politics and transnational processes.

Keywords: Corporatism, Christian Democracy, integralism, history of concepts, temporalization, fascism.