Executive summary:

This thesis is based on three months of fieldwork that was conducted in Bolivia - South America’s poorest country and one of the world’s most unequal countries in terms of income, consumption and human capital. With a majority of citizens of indigenous origin, Bolivia has a one of the highest indigenous populations in Latin America. Although poverty is widespread in the country, it is especially high among the indigenous population. No exception to global trends, Bolivia’s indigenous people attain lower levels of education, suffer a greater incidence of disease, and are subject to more discrimination than other groups in the society.                            

For a long time neo-liberal, market-oriented economic policies have been considered the only path to development and the eradication of poverty. However, persistent inequality and poor living conditions among the majority of the country’s population has led to strong political opposition convinced that neo-liberalism was to blame for much of the country’s hardship.      

In 2006 Bolivia’s first indigenous president; Evo Morales came to power. He achieved the largest margin of votes of any leader since the restoration of democracy in 1982. His party’s political message has been focused on the idea of “decolonizing the state” and integrating indigenous cultural knowledge into government policies. A newly proposed educational bill, called ley Avelino Siñani y Elizardo Pérez, embodies the idea of “decolonization of education” through the use of “intra-cultural education.”  This implies the integration of indigenous culture into the curriculum and has raised much controversy.                                                            

This research poses the following question: How do the different stakeholders perceive this bill, its justification and possible application? The findings presented here are based on interviews with teachers, professors and policy-makers who were able to articulate informed opinions about the bill, as well conversations with locals and reviews of local media messages (from television and newspapers).  Nobody seems to disagree on the opinion that the country needs radical change but public opinion is strongly divided over how these changes should take place. While the idea behind the bill is viewed by many as a means of enabling disadvantaged groups to participate in the running of society, critics say the concept of “decolonization of education” could potentially increase racial tensions because of an over-emphasis on ethnicity. At this stage it is unclear whether the bill - if implemented - will succeed in contributing to a functioning, pluralistic society or a growing divide between indigenous and non-indigenous communities in Bolivia.