Social Determination of Health at the Territory: Perspectives from the Banana Workers in Tenguel (Ecuador)

Introduction: Ecuador exports bananas since the beginning of the 20th century, mainly to the countries of the Southern Cone. From 1948 and with the end of World War II, the country reached importance as one of the largest suppliers of this fruit in the global market. However, the production and marketing of Ecuadorian banana globally have minimally changed the quality of life of banana workers. Their health has historically been affected by structural processes typical of a capitalist dependent economy. Development: First, I developed briefly the theoretical basis used for the proposed analysis. Next, I interpreted the banana workers social representations about how socially territories determine their health. At the same time, I included a quantitative and historical information analysis of Ecuadorian public health, the role of the country in the banana world trade, and the national territorial dynamics, which help to understand health’s social determination and territory at national and global scales. Conclusion: Banana workers’ health in Tenguel is territorially shaped by global, local, and national political and economic relations mediated by the nation-state. To these structural and configurational global forces of the local, patriarchal relations are added. In this scenario, the workers, together with the local population, have generated a social fabric that contributes protective processes to their health and lives.