Abstract
International audience Founded in 1972 at the University Paris Nanterre, the Center for Ecuadorian Studies (in French, Centre d’Études Équatoriennes or CEE) is the oldest European research center dedicated exclusively to the study of Ecuadorian cultural productions from the perspective of the discipline of Cultural Studies. This paper seeks not describe all the projects organized by the CEE, but rather aims to understand the intersecting viewsthey have fostered. Indeed, the CEE is not a mere French initiative but the result of mutual collaboration between French and Ecuadorian scholars. This paper shows how the overlapping perspectives of the CEE, for 45 years, have led to the emergence of new actors and new concerns expressed through Ecuadorian cultural productions. It emphasizes the reformulation of Ecuadorianess (ecuatorianidad) through interculturality, efforts to preserve cultural heritage and to democratize it and make it known inside and outside the country. Finally, it seeks to develop interdisciplinary approaches to understanding Ecuadorian culture(s).