Bolivia An Etnicidad

Ethnicity and the State in Bolivia: Building Bolivian Identity in the era of Evo Morales
By Henrik Jarholm
In this essay, I will focus on how the Bolivian government under the Evo Morales administration connecting ethnicity as a crucial component to the state and its developing strategies. By looking into history and present power relations within and between the state, I will argue that anemphasize on ethnicity both building Bolivian identity and polarizing the Bolivian society at the same time.
Present Bolivian context
In 2006, Juan Evo Morales Ayma took office in the new Bolivian government as the first indigenous president. This happened after 180 years of republic govern and 50 years of free vote for the indigenous population. It is peculiar that this did not happen beforesince the Bolivian population consists of approximately 50-70 percent of indigenous. This cultural diversity has always existed within the Bolivian state, but this achievement was not possible before the election in 2005 of several reasons: The Bolivian society has for decades been characterized by neo-colonial tendencies. The Bolivian majority has been living characterized by its indigenous ethnicidentity which has been linked to poverty. The reason for this is gap between indigenous and the ruling mestizos (white, mixed people of Spanish inheritance) has been generated by discrimination towards the indigenous. The indigenous population has been victims of discrimination in terms of economy, culture and politics. This discrimination can be expressed in different ways:
1. Differentaccess to developing features
2. Lack of knowledge when it comes to rights
3. Low self-esteem
4. Lost territories
5. Cultural subordination
Different occasions in late Bolivian history, especially led by social movements managed to challenge these assumptions of cultural suppression, which later made the way clear for the first indigenous president. These movements had a differentagenda than the current state, which was more based upon autonomy, care of natural resources, territorial demands and recognition. They represented a different social system than the neo-liberal model, because the neo-liberal model did not promote development but rather exploitation of Bolivian resources (lectures of Martin Basurco). The core of the present Bolivian government and its ideologicalexpression has a lot to do with Bolivian history. The relation between the state, social movements and ethnic groups has been articulated in different ways through the years. The state under Evo Morales is a product of historical events and I tend to give a brief summary of how these relations have been expressed through the 20th Century which led to the current plurinational state.
A brief historyon movements for social justice in Bolivia
Two components are important for this story. First, the majority of the Bolivian population are of indiginous inherritance. Nearly 62 percent are indiginous which speaks a native language. It is important to mention that the term "indiginous" is under debate. The number of how many people who regard themself as indiginous is unprecise. Second, Boliviasmain sources of income and production have historically been peassant agricultural workers and miners exploiting silver under the colonial time, and tin in modern times. These facts are framing how different movements for social change have been organized (Postero 2010:19).
In the 1930s, Bolivian miners started to organize and fighting for rights and against repression made by the miningcompanies. They allied themself with other labour organizations and etablished unions (sindicatos). Organized and armed miners where later crucial for the revolution in 1952, led by the MNR (Movimiento Nacional Revolucionary),and COB (Central Obrero Boliviano) which governed together with MNR five years after the revolution. The unions where the primary way to achieve political rights. The unions...