Marc Simon Thomas

M.A.SimonThomas@cedla.nl
Research: Research: Indigenous rights and legal consciousness in Ecuador
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Patrick Eisenlohr (Utrecht University) and Prof. Dr. Michiel Baud (CEDLA)

Marc Simon Thomas obtained a Dutch law degree (mr.) at the University of Leiden in 1992. After a decade of work experience in business services, he continued his academic career at the Utrecht University in the field of Cultural Anthropology. Marc graduated (cum laude) in 2006 with a bachelor’s thesis on customary law and legal pluralism in Guatemala. In 2008, at CEDLA he pursued his MA degree in Latin American Studies. His master’s thesis was on legal pluralism and interlegality in Ecuador. Marc Simon Thomas started his PhD program at CEDLA and Utrecht University in December 2008.

With the Constitution of 1998 Ecuador legally acknowledged its pluri-cultural and multi-ethnic character. One of the remarkable features of this acceptation of cultural and ethnic diversity was the recognition of indigenous customary law along with state law. These considerations inspired this research, which main topic is to analyse how the situation of formal legal pluralism works out in daily practice for ordinary Indians. Given the lack of coordinating rules that should make both legal systems compatible, in principle Indians can choose their legal forum in case of an internal conflict. The main theoretical concept that guides this research concerns legal consciousness. How does the extent to which Ecuadorian Indians are knowledgeable of their rights, and the extent to which they conceive themselves as plural rights-bearing subjects, affect their consideration of legitimate and effective resolutions in case of internal conflicts?