retolaza (2005) public consultations and difference.the Bolivian decentralization case

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Public consultations and difference.

The Bolivian decentralization case

Synthesis Paper

Iñigo Retolaza Eguren

MA in Participation, Development and Social Change

Institute of Development Studies

20th July 2005



Summary

This synthesis paper analyses issues regarding identity and difference and theway these express themselves in the current Bolivian constituent assembly

conflictive context. Based on a government led public consultation on

decentralization as my main action research input, I look at issues on power,knowledge, spaces, identity and donors. As a consequence of my action

research learning, I argue that self and social identities and the way we position ourselves are determined by the context we find ourselves in. Along

with this, the context and our current identities are also heavily influenced byhistory and our own generative past; this is, our primary identity. I end the

document with some conclusions for donors and activists who, as me, are

engaged with similar processes and may find it useful to learn from my ownlearning too.

2



Contents

Summary 1

Preface 4

1 Introduction 6

1.1 Defining the thread 61.2 Structure and theoretical approach of the synthesis paper 6

2 Action research as a method of inquiry 7

2.1 The nature of my action research 7

2.2 Parallel processes and meta learning 7

2.3 Iterativity and learning 8

2.4 Actor researcher’s identity and positionality 8

2.5 Critical reflective practice 9

2.6 Action research, zen and spirituality 10

3 Context 10

3.1 Historical context 103.2 Contemporary context 12

3.2.1 The Hydrocarbons Law 13

3.2.2 Santa Cruz regional demand 13

3.2.3 Social identities and power dynamics 14

4 The Constituent Assembly process 14

4.1 Origins of the Constituent Assembly 14

4.2 Social movements and the agenda of the Constituent

Assembly

15

4.3 The actors and where they stand 16

4.4 Current decentralization debate 16

5 The MPP public consultation 175.1 Public consultations comparative analysis 18

5.2 The MPP consultation methodological process 19

5.3 The underlying theoretical approach 20

6 Main findings 20

6.1 Power/knowledge and spaces 21

6.1.1 Who starts the process? 21

6.1.2 Internal spaces 22

6.1.3 External spaces and actors moving across spaces 22

6.1.4 Linking power, spaces and social identities 23

6.2 Situated knowledge and inclusive spaces 24

6.3 Identity 266.3.1 Citizenship, neo-nationalism and ethnicity 27

6.3.2 Social identities: categorisation and differentiation 29

6.4 Donors and social transformation 30

6.5 My identity 31

7 Conclusions 33

7.1 State design, social justice and development agencies 33

7.2 Constituent Assembly and communicative democracy 33

7.3 Public consultations 33

7.4 Social identities and our positionality 34

7.5 Working together 34

7.6 Looking at myself 34References 36

3





Preface

This synthesis paper is the final product of my learning process resulting from

the MA in Participation, Development and Social Change I undertook at IDS

during the period of May 2004-July 2005.The paper analyzes issues related to my three learning objectives

described in my learning plan (Retolaza 2004b) and discussed in more detail

in my analytical paper (Retolaza 2004a). Through my learning objectives I

intend to know more about i) issues on power, knowledge, spaces, identity and

donors in relation to public consultations; ii) my own identity and how my

positionality affected and was affected by the action research context; and iii)

action research as a method of inquiry.

I believe the topic chosen for this action research is very relevant to the

MA in Participation, Development and Social Change due to the importance

people’s participation has when deciding the new State arrangement to be

approved in the Bolivian Constituent Assembly. I consider it is crucial to look

at the above issues to understand how people’s participation can better support

societal change.

I am very grateful to many people. I must deeply thank my supervisor

Rosalind Eyben for her support and understanding. Many times I wondered

whether things had worked so nicely if having a man as my supervisor. I also

want to thank my tutor and co-learner Jethro Pettit. His introduction to

reflective practice was a deep inspiration for me. All my admiration to Peter

Taylor. His openness to learn from our needs is an example of how to

facilitate others’ learning processes.

I also want to thank Fernando Mudarra, National Coordinator of the

Spanish International Cooperation Agency (AECI) in Bolivia, for inviting me

to be part of his wonderful team. All my gratitude to my good friend Pep Serra

in AECI-Bolivia, who through his own reflective practice showed me how we

humans can learn and change together.

My special thanks to my good friend Javier Medina. A wonderful

experience in terms of personally feeling what it is to be actively listened. A

big hug for Raúl Aramayo for sharing with me his facilitation skills as well as

many good moments.

5



And of course, to all my dearest peers and friends at MAP01 who

shared with me this unique journey.

Here we are, at the margins, where things can be changed and new

knowledge produced.

6



1. - Introduction

1.1. - Defining the thread

This synthesis paper argues that current social identities and difference are not

only shaped by the context but also influenced by primary self socialidentities. To back up my argument, I will draw on evidences and learning

derived from the action research undertaken while implementing a national

public consultation on decentralization in Bolivia.

1.2.- Structure and theoretical approach of the synthesis paper

The present document is structured in seven chapters including the

introduction. Chapter 2 explains the approach of my action research (Coghlan

and Brannick 2003) and the critical reflexive practice ‘mood’ in which is

embedded (Brookfield 2005, Klouda 2004; 2005, Foucault n/d, Bolton 2004).

The next chapter briefly comments on Bolivian societal change evolution

since the colony until our days (Klein 1999, Flores 2002, and others) as the

starting point for understanding the current context which is also commented

at the end of the chapter.

The Constituent Assembly overarching context will be explained in

Chapter 4 drawing mainly on Bolivian literature. The next chapter looks into

detail the national consultation on decentralization in which I was directly

involved as a technical expert hired by the Spanish cooperation agency. As it

will be explained, part of my work was about exploring methods (Herzig

2001, Chasin et al 1996) and theoretical approaches (Young 1989; 1996;

2000, Isin and Wood 1999) to innovate the way consultations are done in

Bolivia. The following chapter summarizes some of my main findings on

issues related to my learning plan: power, knowledge, spaces, identity and

donors. Here I seek to merge my action research evidences with some theory

related to the issues discussed (VeneKlassen and Miller 2002, Isin and Wood

1999, Jenkins 1996, Young 1989; 1996; 2000, García 2004; 2005, Wade 1997,

White 2002, and others). The paper ends with a brief conclusion looking at

potentials for further application as a result of my learning.

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2.- Action research as a method of inquiry

This section provides an initial methodological frame intended to demonstrate

the rigorousness of the approach, methods and tools used during my action

research. The unusual length of this methodological explanation is justifiedsince ‘action research as a method of inquiry’ was one of the main learning

objectives considered in my learning plan (Retolaza 2004b)

2.1. – The nature of my action research

All in one, my action research comprised methods and tools coming from

different disciplines such as reflective practice (Bolton 2004) cooperative

inquiry (Reason 2001, Heron 1998), participatory (Taylor et al n/d) and

empirical research (McNiff, 2002).

As originally planned in my learning plan (Retolaza 2004b) and as it

can be seen in my reflective essay (Retolaza 2005a) I used several action

research tools in different moments. Some were used all along the research

(i.e. field work notebook, learning journal, literature review, informal

meetings, and so on) and some when needed (i.e. reflective reading notebook,

workshops facilitation and report, production of conceptual and institutional

papers, interviews, and more).

2.2. - Parallel processes and meta learning

Coghlan and Branninck’s work (2003) describes very clearly the two parallel

cycles an action research implies. On one hand we have the cycle where we

learn as a result and consequence of our actions (those activities related mainly

but not only to my nine month field work) and on the other hand we conduct

another parallel cycle where we focus our understanding on how what is learnt

is being learnt; that is, “it is learning about learning, in other words, meta

learning” (ibidem:19). This second learning cycle became crucial when

challenging and testing my own assumptions of what was happening in the

process (ibidem:23). These two cycles have been recorded and a sample of

evidences presented in my portfolio.

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2.3.- Iterativity and learning

For developing my action research, time and place have been factors of

paramount importance. It was only at the end of my second quarter when I

started to reflect upon (Bolton 2004) what happened in the early stages of my

inquiry process (and beyond). This reflection upon my early action as well as

the reflection in action done at that time were complemented with new

reflections stimulated by my further readings on approaches about underlying

assumptions (Brookfield, Klouda, Foucault), reflective practice (Bolton) and

identity and difference (Young, Untoja, García, Isin and Wood). I will

illustrate this process with an extract of my reflective reading notebook based

on my reflection after reading Brookfield (2005) where he talks about adult

educators citing Gramsci and Newman.

“I feel I was an adult educator (the Gramsci and Newman way) when I was

in North Potosí1. We2 defined the enemy and were clear about it. As the time

and place changed, I feel that I still know who the enemy is, but it is not so

clear anymore...maybe because I don’t see poverty and exclusion so directly

and vividly” RRN Vol I 01/03/05

This insightful reflection upon my past activist experience invites me to

theoretically (re)frame the latter and to discuss about the importance of theactor researcher’s identity and positionality. These changed throughout time

and place affecting not only the action research outcomes but also the

interpretation I do of the reality I live in.

2.4. - Actor researcher’s identity and positionality

So during the action research my donor and actor researcher identities

displaced somehow my past activist identity. This fact positioned my self in a

complete different way; within my self but also in front of others, who saw me

as a donor and a technical assistant. In this sense, Klouda’s (2004) reflection

on facilitation and challenge became very helpful for me in terms of better

understanding how I could merge my facilitator skills with my already

existing challenger approach.

1

I spent my first three years in Bolivia in a community development project with indigenousexcluded groups.2 The project staff along with the communities

9



2.5. - Critical reflective practice

As I explained before, the action research approach as a whole tells us how to

do a research while undertaking an action, but generically it does not precise

the “mood” in which we are supposed to do the action research. As Brookfield

points out (2005) critical adult learning is oriented to promote “learning to

think critically by challenging commonsense perceptions of the world (which

were often organized to reflect the dominant group’s ideas)” (ibidem:105).

This critical awareness “mood” was the one I work with while designing and

facilitating the consultation3. As an example, I am quoting some of the critical

comments and proposals participants raised around issues of class, ethnicity

and gender.

“the Constitution has been always done by an elitist class. Now we have to

fight for other classes to go to the constituent assembly so to draft a new

social contract” participant, Sucre workshop, 16/11/05

“Bolivia is a State of social and democratic law which sustains as its

superior values freedom, equality, gender equity4 and justice”. Group

proposal for Constitutional article amendment, Pando Workshop, 13/11/05

Reflective practice has been another of the candles used for my enlightment.

As Bolton’s (2004) brilliant work states, “reflective practice is a process of

learning and developing through examining our practice, opening our practice

to public scrutiny, and studying texts from the wider sphere” (ibidem:4). This

I have done, as already mentioned in my reflective essay, through further

reading, peer discussions during my field work, and through small discussion

groups and supervision during Part III.

Bolton (2004) and others (i.e. Lincoln n/d, Richardson 2000) underline

the importance writing has for achieving effective reflective practice.Somehow, this is one of the aims of this paper: to write again, to retell, what I

wrote before.

Also, as a zen practitioner myself, I am interested in complementing

the reflective practice approach with Buddhist zen philosophy and its practice,

3 In every workshop group discussions were framed by a matrix containing four questions

related to the Constitutional articles regarding the decentralization regime: What is your

opinion about the article?, What do you think it should be changed ?, What are the impacts you

believe those changes will have on the country’s development?, and What do you propose interms of writing up a new constitutional article?4 As written in the original text

10



so called zazen5, as a mean not only to become more reflexive, but to

incorporate my path to spirituality in my own daily live.

2.6. – Action research, zen and spirituality

During the action research my meditation, which also had its ups and downs,

helped me very much in keeping the focus. I will just comment one of those

moments which I found zen a very significant mean to keep my inner balance.

By the time the consultation process was over I felt anger, frustration and I felt

sad I did not achieve everything I wanted to. It seemed that my attachment to

my ideals and proposals were blinding my perception of reality. In one of my

sitting meditations in the dojo6 with my sangha7 , the master recited an extract

of The Sutra of the Great Wisdom (Deshimaru 1987) as follows,

“The right thinking, the reflection without prejudices. From the just

reflection flourishes the right behaviour, the correct gestures, the just actions

and words”

My meditation helped me enormously to overcome my grieve and to

understand again the importance of not attaching to our emotions in such way

that blind our perception of reality and affect how we behave with others. As

Suzuki (1970) would say, “all self centred thoughts limit our vast mind”. This

is an important lesson when looking at my actions and its context through a

researcher lens. Although for an activist it is a difficult lesson to learn.

3. - Context

3.1.- Historical context

Bolivia, as all the other countries in Latin America, has a long history of

colonization and post-colonization which has been constantly shaping during

centuries the current socio economic and political crisis (Klein 1999, Roca

1999, Temple 1997). This crisis is grounded on a very complex and

intertwined web of elements comprising a profound unequal economic model,

traumatized generative pasts, unequally exploited natural resources, cultural

5

Zazen: sitting meditation6 The place where the Buddhist community meets7 The Buddhist community

11



(dis)encounters, revitalized nationalist and regionalist ethnic demands, and

everlasting class struggles.

The (dis)encounter of these two different “cultural matrixes” (Guevara

2004), the Western and Amerindian worldviews, brought to life a new “pattern

of cooperation” (Parker et al 2003:20). So as the nationalist aymara

intellectual Untoja (2005) shows when discussing on “internal colonization”, it

seems that indigenous population never did buy in entirely their colonized

status; as confirmed by the recurrent and increasing periodicity of rebellions

happening in the country (Tomson 2004, Klein 1999).

As regards to the Bolivian economy, this has been always very much

related to the uncontrolled and unequal exploitation of its natural resources,

mainly exported as raw material. Throughout history silver, tin, rubber,

timber, gas and oil have been the main economic engines of the country (Klein

1999).

In terms of its politico-administrative arrangement (the nowadays so

called decentralization regime), the constraining land lock nature of Bolivia

made the former Audiencia de Charcas 8 a semi-autonomous entity (Klein

1999, Roca 1999,). The fact that Audiencia de Charcas and its Intendencias

were located in a very isolated but economically rich geography laid the

conditions for the thriving of powerful local and regional elites which

developed a very strong regional sense of belonging, paradoxically weakening

the Virreinato centralistic authority (Roca 1999:137-139). Of course, this

became a source of conflict amongst elites because of the political tensions

occurring between the former Audiencia de Charcas and the Virreinato del

Alto Perú9.

Concerning the complex Bolivian social structure, Flores’ (2002:21-

54) and others’ (i.e. Loayza 2004:36-42) analysis find white people at the top

of the socio-economic stratus (high and high-medium class), mestizos10 and

urban Indians in the low-medium class and Indians at the bottom, mainly rural.

8 Audiencia de Charcas was the name given by Spaniards to the political and administrative

unit comprising not only Bolivia but also current Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay some regions

belonging to current Chile, Peru, and Brazil (Roca 1999:134). This unit was later on

subdivided into 9 subunits called intendencias, four of them (Cochabamba, Potosí, La Paz and

Puno) being part of what now is known as Bolivia (ibidem)9

The upper political administrative level to which Charcas Audience belonged.10 A social group resulting from the mixture between criollos (or Spaniard origin population)

and local indigenous population

12



Flores, a Bolivian economist formed in Harvard, also states that poverty is

much concentrated in rural Indians and to less extent on mestizos and urban

Indians. Although this analysis may appear too absolute at least it allows a

very approximate understanding of the existing situation.

Yet the picture would not be complete without addressing the political

dimension of exclusion and discrimination. Looking again back in the past, we

find that it was only as a result of 1952 revolution that universal vote came

into life in Bolivia. Women’s right to vote can be tracked down to 1940 but

only white women, and few, would have the privilege of voting and becoming

elected. So until then, the destiny of Bolivia was in the hands of white rich

men belonging to elites who excluded Indians and women from political

power.

But it is also true that things are really changing in these last years. The

deep crisis Bolivian representative democracy finds itself (CNE 2004) and the

ever increasing power of social and regional movements have reconfigured the

political map in Bolivia. Due to these new spaces for deepening democracy, I

believe Bolivian citizens have more choices and chances of participating in the

construction of a new State, more inclusive and just. It is paradoxical to think

that a crisis in the representative democracy has enhanced the opportunities to

improve Bolivian democracy.

3.2. - Contemporary context

“ Here we have a very effervescent and volatile political context that makes us not know what it’s going to happen next ”

Marcelo Renjel, Vice-minister of Departmental Decentralization, 13/09/04

The Bolivian pre-constituent agenda at the time of the action research was

spinning around two main continuous and highly dynamic and emergent

spaces: the controversial Hydrocarbons Law (HCL) being discussed in the

Congress and fought in the streets (see annex A), and the Autonomy agenda

promoted by the Santa Cruz Civic Committee (SCC) (see annex B).

3.2.1. - The Hydrocarbons Law

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The HCL has been the catalyser of a national catharsis. It actually was passed

during Sanchez de Lozada’s government but re-framed as a result of October

2003 revolt. Summing up, there were three set of proposals. One

transnationals friendly proposal defended by President Mesa, a nationalist-

populist one coming from MAS and a middle way presented by the Congress

(the one finally approved).

The Congress everlasting discussion was surrounded by international

pressures (neighbour governments, multilateral banks and hydrocarbon

transnationals) (see annex C), street marches and regional blockades, private

sector demands and internal division within the Congress and political parties

(see annex A).

Here we find a clear contemporary example of how collective action is

linked to culture, generative pasts and natural resources. In this case, the

poverty factor plays a vital role since it is deep rooted in the popular imaginary

that their life conditions will be improved as a result of gas industry

nationalization and gas revenue and tax increase to hydrocarbon

transnationals. As seen by Marxist sociologist García Linera, we find a clear

“economic rationality”11 (García, 2004:7, citing Olson 1971) underlying social

mobilisations all over the country mingling economic opportunity with a new

nationalism rooted in ethnicity, culture and class.

3.2.2. - Santa Cruz regional demand

On the other hand the other major contextual space was shaped by regional

demands of autonomy originated in rich Santa Cruz department12 and followed

in its own way by Tarija department (see annex B). These demands articulated

different actors and spaces whereas a strange but predictable alliance emerged

among different popular sectors of society, natural resource depredatory

private sector (soya producers, cattle breeders, oil investors, timber extractors,

big landlords and so on) and regional and local elites colluding in the Santa

11 This is, social movements accomplish to incorporate participants through the gain or loss

calculus the latter do when considering what they can obtain by associating with others in any

of the domains of their needs and expectations (García 2004:7, citing Olson 1971).12

Santa Cruz is one of the three major cities, along with La Paz and Cochabamba ( UCAC

2004b), to be financially better placed for a deepening of its decentralization and self-government

14



Cruz Civic Committee (SCC) (Gonzales et al 2002). Once more, the binding

force spins around identity, generative pasts, natural resources, etc… all

encapsulated in the cruceño social identity and its claim for more regional

autonomy and self-determination.

3.2.3.- Social identities and power dynamics

In both cases we find strong social movements and regional social groups

framing the national agenda and a weak government and a divided congress

trying to cope with the various demands and extremely self-centred proposals

of the former actors.

It seems that these new actors exercise a power over a weak State

through a ‘power with’ action. This is a collective action shaped by strongly

positioned and contested collectives who compete against each other for

achieving their own self-interests over the common good.

4. - The Constituent Assembly process

4.1.- Origins of the Constituent AssemblyIt is crucial to look again at the past to understand the meaning and

significance of the current constituent process. Bolivia has undergone 14

constituent events since its independence back in 1825 (Barragan 2004:11-12).

The first constituent assembly was instituted in 1826 and established the basis

of the existing Bolivia as an independent Nation-State. The latest took place in

1966. All of them, to a more or less extent, modified their respective

Constitutions and passed crucial laws. In some cases these were called in by

the President and to a less extent would be established by the Congress itself.

(ibidem:17-19). The candidates’ election prerequisites in the past century were

highly discriminatory against women and indigenous population13 meaning

that only white mestizo-criollo literate men would decide about constitutional

matters. This in contrast to the current highly controversial electoral process

proposals coming from indigenous and women organizations; each of them

13

Barragán (2004:38-41) notes the requirements for any candidate during the past century:literate, Bolivian citizenship, man, above 21 years old and in most of the cases owning a

property or having a fixed rent was a must.

15



claiming for a more inclusive representation of their respective social groups

(Ramiro 2005, Coordinadora de la Mujer 2005, Apostamos por Bolivia 2005)

Regarding matters on State design, the possibility of the constitution of

a federal state was discussed at least in two opportunities (1868, 1899) and in

both cases Unitarians won against Federalists (Barragan 2004:22-23). As we

can see here, the politico-administrative arrangement is a recurrent topic

closely related to unresolved post-colonial issues.

4.2.- Social movements and the agenda of the Constituent Assembly

Against what happened with the past Constituent Assemblies, the current one

is clearly a strong demand promoted by indigenous and social movements 14

(see annex E). As a result of tough social pressure a constitutional reform was

undertaken in 2004 incorporating the CA as the only mean to partially reform

or completely draft a new Constitution.

This strong and gradual positioning of the CA in the social imaginary

has become an overarching binding force among diverse social movements

able to mobilize entire grassroots social structures and making us think that we

may be facing a new phenomena beyond traditional social movements; what

Bolivian sociologist Tapia, cited by García (2004:11), has called a “societal

movement”. So in Tapia’s perspective it is not just about attaining some social

change but changing how a whole society is structured. Could we say that

Bolivian collective action phenomenon is a societal movement conformed by a

dense web of social movements?

The imagined societal change is reified in the agenda proposed for the

CA where five main reforms are expected to be discussed (UCAC 2004a): i)

Political reform, ii) Agrarian reform, iii) Social and Economic reforms, iv)

Judiciary reform, and v) Mode of the State reform (decentralization and public

administration). Therefore, what the social/societal movements are asking for

is a complete re-structuring of a discriminatory State.

4.3.- The actors and where they stand

14 For a closer look at Bolivian New Social Movements see Crabtree (2005).

16



Dare to say that the implication this agenda has on the country’s reality has

divided Bolivian society. On one extreme we have the ‘conservatives’

opposing the CA, the different oligarchic and elite groups, and export oriented

private sector rooted in high and middle class urban mestizo and criollo

citizens. On the other extreme we find the ‘structuralists’, the marginalized

population demanding a CA aimed to re-structure the whole State and

represented by MAS, MIP15 and a rich range of social movements (miners,

rural and periurban teacher unions, peasants, small producer associations, coca

growers, aymara nationalists, amazonic ethnic groups, women organizations,

El Alto neighbor associations and more) (see annex E). And of course, there is

room for the ‘proactives’, some non-governmental and civil society

organizations and religious and human rights organizations who support the

CA through many different perspectives and proposals.

On this regard, there is an increasing wide array of literature with some

initial ideas and not sufficiently well grounded proposals on the new

decentralization regime (Barrios 2004) written during the pre-constituent

phase (Tinkazos 2004; García 2005; Kafka (ed.) 2004; ILDIS 2003; Comité

Cívico Pro-Santa Cruz 2004; Revista Nacional 2004, 2005). So it is important

to have a broad look at the main discussed proposals to understand the

magnitude of the debate.

4.4.- Current decentralization debate

Different actors have different proposals based on their own agenda, identity

and body of knowledge. During my action research I have identified a wide

variety of semi-structured proposals (Medina and Barrios 2004, Retolaza

2005a). Although they are being publicly discussed in intellectual and political

forums (Kafka 2004, Tinkazos 2004) all of them lack of enough legitimacy

since they were not really built upon people’s participation but on

intellectuals’ and private sector’s inputs deriving from their own situated,

experiential and technical knowledge.

15 MAS: Movimiento al Socialismo. The social movements’ political instrument. MIP:

Movimiento Indígena Pachakuti. It represents the aymara nationalist claim strongly rooted inthe city of El Alto and surrounding communities Both parties are present in the National

Congress with almost one third of the seats (CNE 2005).

17



The main proposals being discussed comprise a wide range of

perspectives starting from a more essentialist indigenous idea of the State

(Yampara 2004, CSUTCB 2003, García 2005) to an innovative deepening of

the current Republican decentralization regime (Barrios 2003, Galindo 2004).

There is also middle ground for more intercultural proposals trying to balance

both poles of the debate (Bejarano 2004, Equipo ILCA 2004). Both the

‘essentialists’ and the ‘interculturalists’ base their proposals (although in a

different degree) around the recognition of difference and the understanding

that Bolivia is a multicultural and multinational State. On the contrary, the

‘innovatives’ are much more limited in this matter and reduce their proposals

to some innovations at fiscal, political, administrative and territorial level

avoiding to address (and recognize) difference as the fundamental issue in

terms of the new State formation.

5. - The MPP public consultation

As we see, the decentralization debate is crucial to the constitutional agenda

this being one of the reasons why the government decided to undertake a public consultation on the matter. Due to prior contacts and as a result of the

ministry approaching the Spanish International Cooperation Agency, the so

called AECI, the latter contracted my services to join the technical team

assembled by the ministry along with two other consultants. My main duties

comprised i) methodological and conceptual innovation, ii) process design,

implementation and documentation, iii) networking, iv) workshop facilitation

and v) AECI-MPP linkage.

It must be said this consultation was somehow different from past

major consultations as the National Dialogue carried out during 2000. I will

briefly comment on the latter so to illustrate what a major public deliberative

consultation is like for Bolivian standards.

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5.1.- Public consultations comparative analysis

The National Dialogue (ND) helped to define public policies and allocation of

public funds (in this case debt relief funds through HIPC16 and PRSP

initiatives) and raise national awareness about some avoided structural issues

such as poverty (Eyben 2004). I will use Eyben’s (2004) account of the ND

process to compare it with the current one.

Briefly I will note those elements differing from the ministry of

popular participation consultation17. To begin with, i) the ND process was

directly linked to poverty issues and debt relief. In the MPP consultation,

decentralization was the central case; ii) the ND was a donors driven initiative

these strongly funding the process. In the MPP case, some small amount of

funds was available and no much effort was done on behalf of the ministry to

look for more; iii) the ND achieved strong municipal authority engagement.

The MPP consultation was purposefully meant to be implemented only with

civil society organisations.

On the other hand we can also find some similarities such as i) the ND

being led by a technical secretariat politically supervised by Tuto Quiroga,

President at that time. In our case, a strong political control from the ministry

also defined the outcome of the consultation; ii) in both cases the consultations

were funded by donors; iii) the role political parties played was secondary and

nominal.

In sum the ND based the consultation on public identities shaped by a

poverty discourse whereas the MPP consultation focused on ethnic, cultural

and regional identities framed by issues regarding decentralization and State

(trans)formation. This is a major difference for what it implies in terms of

societal change.

Another main difference was about the link achieved between

deliberation and decision making. Or to put it in Gould’s (1996:176) words

“while decision without deliberation is blind, deliberation without decision is

empty”. Sadly to say, the MPP process is more of an empty one since the

16 High Indebted Poor Countries and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Both are mechanisms

set by multilateral donors (World Bank and International Monetary Fund) aimed to definethose countries sensitive to debt relief.17 From now on called the ‘MMP consultation’ or the ‘consultation’

19



limited deliberation achieved was not linked to any public policy decision at

all.

Against what Eyben (2004) considers a good learning process in terms

of bridging the gap between civil society and government, it seems to me the

government did not learn so much about deepening democracy after all.

5.2.- The MPP consultation methodological process

Nevertheless it must be said that the MPP consultation was not meant to be

empty in the first place. The process was initially designed around three main

blocks (MPP 2004). The first one, run from September to December 2004,

aimed at collecting civil society’s decentralization proposals based on their

experiential and situated knowledge through a set of departmental

workshops18; during the second stage a small technical team appointed by the

government and civic committees (CC) would draft an initial proposal to be

presented to the CA. This proposal was supposed to be heavily based on the

outputs coming from the first phase. The final phase was designed to cross-

check and validate this proposal through three interdepartmental workshops

were participants from “rival” regions would meet together to compare and

learn from each others’ perspectives and to look for “shared understandings”

(Young 1996) and minimum consensuses. Finally, the agreed proposal would

be delivered to the CA representatives via a workshop right before the CA

take-off. As we can see, the process was more focused on reifying and sharing

social and situated knowledge than coming to a full final consensus.

The macro multi-stage process was accompanied by a more detailed

micro design through a set of workshops. The main body of the workshop was

inspired by the public conversation methodology (Herzig 2001, Chasin et al,

1996, PCP 1999). It is a method which is used “mainly with people whose

conflicts over public issues involved differences of values, identity, and

worldview rather than more specific, narrowly defined facets of these

disagreements” (Chasin et al, 1996:2).

Although we could not manage to end the process, at least did achieve

to make participants aware that even among their own regional and identity

18

9 departmental workshops (MPP 2005) were carried out with different civil societyorganisations such as youth, disabled, peasants, women, civic committees, transport unions,

colonisers, indigenous, faith based and so on.

20



situated self-narratives we could find many differences and gaps needing to be

filled and shared. To put it in Young’s (1996) words, “narratives thus exhibit

the situated knowledge available of the collective from each perspective, and

the combination of narratives from different perspectives produces the

collective social wisdom not available from any one position”. So the process,

at macro and micro level, was strongly based on the recognition of difference

as the starting point.

5.3.- The underlying theoretical approach

But our process was not meant to be a full deliberative process where

“deliberation is competition” and where parties at dispute “aim to win the

argument, not to achieve mutual understanding” (Young 1996:123). It was

more located within the realm of what Young (1996) calls communicative

democracy. This is a democratic and dialogical process that “facilitates the

transformation of the desires and opinions of citizens from an initial partial,

narrow, or self-regarding understanding of issues and problems, to a more

comprehensive understanding that takes the needs and interests of others more

thoroughly into account” (Young 2000:112-113). In our case the process

intended to come to a shared understanding of the other as a mean to achieve

just solutions to collective problems (ibidem:121) such as the new

decentralization regime. And for doing so, recognition of difference became

the starting point as opposite to the deliberative universalist approach where

difference is something to be overcome before reaching any consensus

(ibidem:123).

6.- Main findings

This chapter intends to address in more detail the learning related to my first

two learning objectives already commented in the preface. I merge theory and

evidences (i.e Retolaza 2005b, MPP 2005, portfolio and more) derived from

my action research to make my point in the issues discussed (power, spaces,

knowledge, identity and donors). Therefore, this is the main chapter where

identity and difference are used as the guiding thread of my analysis.

21



6.1.- Power/knowledge and spaces

In this section I will look at power dynamics and actors’ positionality to

understand how the latter exercised the power they had in a given space and

how this affected the consultation process. I will also comment on issues

related to knowledge as to understand what sorts of knowledge were at play

and the effect this had on the national agenda.

6.1.1. – Who starts the process?

The consultation was launched due to a Presidential top-down mandate, not

because the minister thought of it as a good bridging exercise with civil

society. This fundamental element and the fact that it was started with the

initial blessings of the civic committees led by regional elites (see annex D)

affected the whole process.

At the time the consultation started civic committees were powerful

actors, mainly the ones from Santa Cruz and Tarija who were leading regional

demands and conflicting with the government. The rest of them were quite

unarticulated and were eager to look for some recognition from the

government to position themselves in the national and regional agenda as valid

actors. Initiating the process with them it seemed a concession on behalf of a

weak government. Nevertheless, the minister argued that civil society was too

divided and that would be difficult to find any social organisation to lead the

process. Later on it was obvious the division existing among the civic

committees (see annex B).

During the initial dinner hosted by the government a discussion was

raised about the CA electoral process; both the minister and the CC

representatives agreeing that indigenous organisations should not be the ones

leading the CA and that this should be constituted by literate and highly

educated professionals. It seemed to me that both the government and regional

elites were using their power over to again mould things in their best interest

as they did in the past 14 constituent events. Soon after we found out that

many of the social organisations not attending the workshops did so because

of the fact that civic committees were the ones hosting them. So they also used

their power with to boycott a very highly questioned consultation.

22



6.1.2.- Internal spaces

The consultation itself was a twofolded inward process in terms of the

conveners. On one hand it was a difficult political process led by government

officials (the minister but mainly the Vice-minister of Departmental

Decentralization) and on the other hand a technical process designed and

implemented by three experienced technical staff (paid by bilateral donors)

plus some junior facilitators appointed by the ministry amongst its staff. The

political dimension led the whole process, the technical dimension being

directly influenced by political decisions taken amidst a very controversial

political environment.

The two dimensions used the informal spaces both among themselves

as well as with other external actors. At the same time, same actors met

separately in different informal spaces with the political and technical

dimensions. As we can see, the process was very dynamic. In any case, both

dimensions would interfere as well as support each other along the process.

Throughout the process there was a feeling of mistrust among both

dimensions. This mistrust affected our capacity to jointly learn from the

process. We only conveyed one learning session as a result of the first

workshop in Trinidad. Afterwards, it became clear to me there was not much

will from the ministry to listen to and learn from the consultation.

In conclusion, the process had two internal dimensions, political and

technical, encountering and dis-encountering each other; each of the actors

looking at the process from a different perspective and with different

objectives, identity and positionality. But these were, as we could call them,

internal spaces. There were also external spaces affecting considerably the

invited space. Now we shall turn our look to them.

6.1.3.- External spaces and actors moving across spaces

As Cornwall reminds us (2002), some spaces are used to influence other

spaces. How this happened in our process? We shall look at two examples to

illustrate this. When holding the Beni workshop, the HLC was one of the main

issues in the national agenda (see annex A). MAS had his proposal being

discussed in the parliament and facing a lot of resistance from the government

23



and the oligarchic sectors of Congress due to its nationalist-populist approach.

The government was in need of social support since the political parties were

not aligning with it. So during our stay in Trinidad I witnessed how the vice-

minister asked the President of Beni civic committee to support the President’s

proposal. The civic representative was running for new elections for the civic

presidency and was also in need of government support. So he agreed with the

vice-minister and asked him to write himself the support note. The vice-

minister did so and the day after the workshop ended a public note supporting

President’s Mesa Hydrocarbon Law proposal signed by the Beni CC was

published in the major national newspapers (evidence F). This is an example

of the trade-offs taking place during the consultation among regional elites and

ruling class.

Again during the Santa Cruz workshop we see this sort of trade-offs.

As opposite to the rest of the workshops the SCC was given full responsibility

for the organisation of the event. This was again another concession coming

from the ministry as part of the negotiation about the civic committee

supporting the workshop. As a result of this decision, the latter was attended

by the whole of the provincial civic committees representatives. There were no

disabled representatives, women organisations, peasant trade unions, youth

associations, small producers, etc. It was just a co-opted invited space where

regional elites showed off its contesting power to the ruling class.

One thing that struck me as a clear-cut evidence of this co-optation was

the way some of the participants literally dictated the content of the autonomy

proposal drafted by the SCC to feed the matrix being discussed in the

workshop. It wasn’t about freely expressing their own personal opinions and

interests: it was about positioning a discourse which happened to be produced

by a close circle of external consultants and cruceño like minded intellectuals.

6.1.4.- Linking power, spaces and social identities

As we see, our first example evidences how informal spaces existing around

invited spaces are used by power over (VeneKlassen and Miller 2002) social

identities to articulate and support themselves based on temporary and

contextual interests. Here power is exercised through alliances aimed at

positioning a discourse, the President Mesa’s proposal. So here power could

24



be defined as the collaborative “production of intended effects” (Russell

1986:19). Or to put it in Veneklassen and Miller’s (2002) terms, a power with

exercised among elites so to maintain a power over social position. Here, the

vice-minister became a homeostatic agent who took advantage in a permeable

space, an informal space around an invited space, of his official position to

influence the actors’ within the space and doing so influence back the first

space that triggered this power/space dynamic.

In our second example we are looking at issues related to knowledge,

heterogeneity and disciplinary power (Foucault n/d, Clegg 1989). We find a

social group (SCC) defying another social group (ruling class) and using an

invited space for doing so. But again, this cruceño social group is internally

differentiated in terms of social structures and due to logic of class and culture

we find regional elite (urban political and economic elite) at the top of the

pyramid where local elites find themselves somewhere below. So here we

have a peculiar mixture of recognition and domination whereas regional elite

grounded in a heterogeneous cruceño social identity looks for external

recognition as a mean for further internal domination.

6.2. – Situated knowledge and inclusive spaces

I will analyse now the importance of considering different situated knowledge

in the Bolivian pluralist polity. Young (2000:112-120) draws on feminist

literature to define situated knowledge explaining that “in socially

differentiated societies, individuals have particular knowledge that arises from

experience in their social positions, and those social positionings also

influence the interests and assumptions they bring to inquiry” (ibidem:114).

She summarizes a very important point, our knowledge is influenced by our

social position and in turn, our social position determines our interests and

assumptions.

So an individual in a powerful social position will have better chances

to “bring to inquiry” her knowledge and interests against the ones of those in a

worst social position. And this brings to the front the importance of creating

inclusive spaces where everybody, including the powerful or socially

privileged, has the chance and moral obligation to bring into public scrutiny

their own perspectives and by doing so, have others’ perspectives and interests

25



scrutinized too. This internal-external dialogic process found in the

communicative democracy approach invites us to question our own

assumptions helping us to develop a broader understanding of the whole and

locate our partial understanding and knowledge in place so to correct what

Young (ibidem:116) calls our “relative blindness”.

This learning was very important for me too as a facilitator of a

process where I felt more attuned and empathetic toward some social positions

than others. As I see it, the constant self-acknowledgement of my own relative

blindness is of paramount importance when facilitating others’ learning

through dialogue and understanding in plural and contested contexts.

In our case the situated knowledge was expressed in different ways,

many closely related to the generative past of the social identities present in

the workshops. When asked about constitutional article 10819, most of the

urban mestizos and privileged social positions present in the workshops stood

for the maintenance of the same post-colonial territorialization (9

departments). On the other hand ethnic and nationalist aymara groups

demanded a complete new arrangement inspired on past pre-colombian

arrangements and current ethnic territoriality. Beni young leaders living close

to Brazil defended a more Brazilian modern understanding of a federal State.

This is experiential and situated knowledge located in a given differentiated

social position.

But the consultation also showed shared common knowledge and

agreement around some issues affecting everyone equally. This social

knowledge was used by the technical team able to identify certain

commonalities. In every workshop with no exception all the participants asked

for democratic elections for regional authorities20. I believe this was a missed

political opportunity for the government due to the events happened in January

2005 where the massive cabildo taken place in Santa Cruz requested

prefectural democratic elections. This demand became then part of the

national agenda weakening even more the government position against Santa

Cruz elite. I wonder what would have happened in case the ministry would

have not disregard the outcomes coming from the consultation and listened

19 Article 108 relates to the territorial arrangement of the country20 Regional main authority, so called prefecto, is directly appointed by the President

26



and used that excluded social knowledge to tackle this sort of conflicts. I

wonder whether keeping the learning sessions would have helped for the

privileged ruling class to expose and overcome their relative blindness.

So against to what many technical staff and bureaucrats in the

government believe, creating spaces to listen and understand situated and

social knowledge is vital for deepening democracy.

6.3. - Identity

As we have seen so far, the communicative democracy approach on which the

consultation was inspired draws very much on a postmodernist account of

identity and difference. Postmodernists believe the construction of identity is

relational, contextual and multivocal (Wade 1997) and that “most people have

multiple identities according to whom they are interacting and in what

context” (ibidem:18). Or as Isin and Wood (1999:43) point out, “in complex,

highly differentiated societies like our own, all persons have multiple group

identifications”.

But on the other hand Crabtree (2005:85) cites Liendo when she

comments on an aymara adage whereas “’the past is before us, the future

behind’, meaning that the past is what you can see and which help you guide

your actions, whilst the future is impossible to see”. Although it comes from

the aymara worldview, I would dare to say that the importance all Bolivians

give to their generative pasts is paramount and must be also considered in the

analysis.

So one hand Young (2000:101) tells us “we do not choose the

conditions under which we form our identities, and we have no choice but to

become ourselves under the conditions that position us in determine relation to

others”. And on the other hand Jenkins (1996:21) reminds us the importance

of “our earliest processes of socialisation” suggesting “that identities which

are established this early in life - selfhood, human-ness, gender, and, under

some circumstances, kinship and ethnicity – are primary identities , more

robust and resilient to change in later life than other identities (ibidem). So in a

way, our primary identities are reproduced by culture, whereas culture in

understood as those “processes and mechanisms which enable the past to be

27



carried into the present and future” (Parker et al 2003:76). And then again

identities are also produced by influence of the context.

All in one I believe social identities, as well as self-identities, are a

social product constructed on the basis of our primary identities and

(re)shaped by the influence our context and relationships have on us. I turn

now to the main findings supporting this argument.

6.3.1. – Citizenship, neo-nationalism and ethnicity

The consultation space also showed clearly how indigenous ethnic identities

find difficult and to some extent impossible nowadays to exercise their

citizenship and nationhood as they understand it from their indigenous point of

view. These notions of ethnicity and nationalism, as Jenkins (1996:11)

suggests, may have common ground since “it is now anthropological common

sense to consider ethnicity and nationalism in the same analytical breadth”.

This affirmation seems too absolute for all Bolivian ethnic claims but it

definitely finds similarities with the aymara ethnicity/nationalism: which

happens to comprise almost 2,6 million population (INE 2002).

Several workshops (La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Sucre) disclosed the link

between ethnicity and citizenship when discussing the mode of election of

subnational authorities. In all cases indigenous representatives requested a

substantial change so to incorporate in the electoral process the chance for

electing representatives based on customary law. So under the ‘essentialists’

approach, there would be two ways of electing authorities allowing Andean

collective and liberal individual political cultures to co-inhabit the same

democratic electoral process.

The genesis of this neo-nationalism (Untoja 2005) seems to me a

contextual reaction (grounded on a historical process of group identification)

to the lack of responsiveness on behalf of the State to address inequality,

discrimination, difference recognition and poverty among the indigenous rural

population. This discriminatory behaviour has set the conditions for these new

social movements to sprout and contest the very structure of the Bolivian

republican State. And due to this State blindness and lack of political will for

social transformation there is a risk that neo-nationalisms (mainly aymara and

28



cruceño) may eclipse basic issues related to citizenship and democracy (Isin

and Wood, 1999:3).

Here we are facing a challenge in terms of transcending the current

notion of citizenship, a mono-cultural western liberal notion being applied in a

multicultural context. Under the former approach citizenship is understood as

a universal conception whereas identity is understood as particular to one or

more social groups (Isin and Wood 1999:3). Young (1989) questions the

notion of a universal citizenship as the panacea for equal rights and social

justice for all. This is, traditionally universal citizenship has been conceived as

an equalitarian term, equality being understood as sameness. So universalists’

assumption is that if we all achieve to be equal, having the same rights, we all

will be free from oppression. Well, nowadays and after many years of being a

democracy and a neoliberal State, social movements in Bolivia question the

model asking “why equal citizenship rights has not let to social justice and

equality” (Young 1989:250). Young argues that “as long as differences exist

within a society with certain privileged groups, adherence to the principle of

equal treatment tends to perpetuate oppression” (cited in Isin and Wood

1999:43). And her proposal lies on the need for special recognition of group

rights leading this to what Young calls a “differentiated citizenship”

(1989:251).

She brings to light the paradox and risks of what Isin and Wood

(1999:2) call a multilayered citizenship. In our case, some ethnic groups ask

for a differentiated citizenship as a way to have equal rights. So they promote

difference as a way to assure that universal rights are applied to all

indistinctively. Therefore universal citizenship lays its foundations on equality

and sameness while differentiated citizenship looks for equity through

difference. Looking at the workshops from this perspective, they became a

particular expression of a general demand in which the new social movements

(in this case the ones related to women and indigenous organisations) ask for

differentiated representation in the Constituent Assembly (Pacto de Unidad

2004, Coordinadora de la Mujer 2005)

The risk Bolivia faces in case the State does not become more

responsive to the demands of a big proportion of its citizenry is that the sense

of not belongingness to that State will increase even more; and instead of

29



witnessing a social transformation process, we will be watching the rupture of

a State. These are the challenges Bolivia is facing now in terms of

transcending an outdated State and the fixed and uncontextualized meaning it

has of citizenship, not able or willing to relate to a multi-identity citizenship.

6.3.2.- Social identities: categorisation and differentiation

So this brings to our attention the notion of social identity, group

differentiation and social categorisation. But first I should frame my

understanding of what social identity is and then go on with my contextualized

analysis of how social identities expressed themselves in the consultation

process. I will borrow Jenkins’ (1996:4) definition whereas social identity

“refers to the way in which individuals and collectivities are distinguished in

their social relations with other individuals and collectivities”. So it has to do

both with the individual and the collective and their social interaction. But it is

also about meaning and “systematic establishment and signification, between

individuals, between collectivities, and between individuals and collectivities,

of relationships of similarity and difference” (ibidem:4).

So it seems to me that difference and similarity are two sides of the

same coin, they are not separate entities existing on their own: similarity exists

because difference does and vice versa. Put it in Buddhist terminology, they

inter-be with each other. And one of the main reifications of similarity and

difference occur through group differentiation (a collectivity which identifies

and defines itself) and social categorisation (a collectivity which is identified

and defined by others) (Jenkins 1996:22-4). And this, of course, implies power

dynamics in terms of recognition by others. I can be part of a group

identifying and defining itself but if this group does not achieve recognition

from “significant others” (ibidem:23-4) then my identity does not socially

exist. So it is clear when Jenkins reminds us that “social identities exist and

are acquired, claimed and allocated within power relations” (ibidem:25). This

meaning that I have to develop an internal-external dialectic with the other

(ibidem:80-1). Thus social identity is about a process, it is not a given for

granted fixed and framed status. It is about context and power relations and

also is about geography and history.

30



Coming back to Bolivia and our consultation, it is clear that new and

old social identities are being (re)defined. And so it happens with group

differentiation and social categorisation. Indigenous aboriginals were initially

coined and categorized by the significant others (mestizos, ruling class and

elites) as colonial indios, then as modern peasants and now as post-modern

indigenous originarios or neo-nationalists. And these categorisations

happened so because of the local and global context into which we are thrown

throughout history (colony, 1952 revolution, and globalization, respectively). I

remember a moment in La Paz workshop where an aymara participant stood

up and talked in aymara and expressed a more nationalist and emancipated

account of his identity “I am an aymara in origin: I am not an indio, nor a

peasant”. This clear example coming from an aymara in La Paz gives us a

clear idea of what I am stating here.

So nowadays in Bolivia it is not so clear what it implies to be a

Bolivian, a cruceño, a colla, an indigenous, an urban woman, a rural young…

It is a moment of redefinition of group differentiation and social

categorisation. It is a process of redefinition of meanings, belongings and

negotiation at and across the boundaries (Jenkins:24). Here again the paradox

of difference and similarity where differentiated groups negotiate for

recognition with the very groups they want to be different from. Cruceños

negotiating with colla minded government about their autonomy, indigenous

organisations negotiating with the former and latter their territory claims and

identity, women organisations and crongresswomen negotiating with

congressmen gender parity for the constituent assembly electoral process. We,

‘similars’, find ourselves intrinsically bonded to our difference, the ‘others’.

Identity definition is indeed a process of negotiation and power dynamics

influenced by the national context and our primary social identities21.

6.4.- Donors and social transformation

I always suspected that development institutions, be they NGOs, donor

agencies or research centers, are part of what I call the ‘new institutional

colonization’. This loose idea, forged during my early NGO years, found

coherency and recognition when reading White’s (2002) paper on race and21 This concept will be discussed in section 6.5

31



development. She visibly sets the ground when drawing on Mudimbe who

identifies “three critical aspects of colonialism: 1) territorial expansion and the

domination of physical space; 2) the transformation of consciousness, and 3)

the integration of colonized economy and master narrative” (2002:411). I find

these three aspects very present in Spanish development institutions,

irrespective of their governmental or non governmental nature. Let’s say that

this so called new institutional colonization is more than evident throughout

the whole Spanish aid chain22: their development projects, the obsessive

fixation with the need to place institutional logos in every thing they fund, the

educational programs run by Spanish missionaries, and the ever increasing

strong presence of Spanish private sector 23 give a clear account of this neo-

colonization.

Therefore it becomes difficult for Spain to get rid off its colonial

generative past all in a sudden, this (post)colonial identity being reified

constantly. This past is too strong and is recurrent, coming back just with new

disguises and discourses; but nevertheless “it is thus no longer possible, as

once perhaps it was, to sever ‘the aid industry’ from its wider context of

Western-inspired global capitalism and the geopolitical interests of dominant

states” (White 2002:411). So a reasonable doubt arises when thinking about

the real capacity these institutions have when promoting deep social

transformation processes as for example, the Constituent Assembly in Bolivia.

6.5.- My identity

After analyzing the above section, I must confess that working as a consultant

for AECI (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation) was one of the

biggest challenges this action research posed on me. The first weeks of

attending the office my Basque identity would shiver to the bones when

crossing the door and finding out all sort of posters enhancing Spanish

heritage and being surrounded by myriads of logos as part of AECI’s

institutional visibility. At times I also felt myself as an exotic demonstration of

AECI’s ‘openness’ to incorporate Basques in their staff. We even made jokes

about it.

22

Official Spanish aid, Spanish catholic institutions, Spanish and local NGOs, SpanishUniversities and other related institutions.23Mass media, banking system, oil and gas, publishers, roads construction, and electricity

32



On the other hand, becoming a temporary staff in a donor agency also

raised contradictions within my NGO activist identity which for many years

felt that official aid agencies were not much than extensions of post-colonial

power over structures. But I also consider myself a challenger and at that time

this meant challenging my self and my prejudices. My time in AECI made

many of my longstanding prejudices disappear but also affirmed some of my

initial worries and concerns as the ones mentioned in the above section.

Yet again, being categorized by others as a Spanish donor opened up

many doors for me; my Spanish donor identity becoming the channel through

which my activist identity challenged the way decisions were made in close

spaces as regards to the new decentralization design. Therefore, even in an

environment as the one I was thrown in, there was room for manoeuvre.

In a way, it was easy for me to challenge others since I was not part of

their “social environment” (Klouda, 2004:2). I was a somehow trusted outsider

and as such it was easier for me to challenge the dominant discourse from

within. Sadly to say, I was too naïve to think that I could do so and stay in that

position. Being a consultant contracted by a donor agency did not entitle me

with enough “powers” and I was later on rejected from the group. I shall recall

my reflections on the matter at that time when I wrote:

“people sometimes restrain themselves from forcing change because that

could endanger their belonging to a certain group and social identity. This

also applies to powerful people (Renjel, Barrios) … They are part of it; their

self and social identity are at stake. If they challenge it, they may be

displaced. This is what it happened to me when I was ‘accepted’ in this

social group and then rejected when I challenged it” (Reflective Reading

Notebook Vol II 06/03/05).

My conclusion on this regard is that contradiction is always present in identity

formation. This major finding applies both to our self-identity as well as the

social identities present in our context. This personal discovery helped me to

be more empathetic when analysing the contradictions I found in the

discourses and positions held by the social groups present in the consultation.

7.- Conclusions

33



To finalize my paper, I will sum up some of my main learning in terms of

identifying potential for further application in similar or related contexts.

7.1.- State design, social justice and development agencies

Many developing countries in the South and other countries in East Europe

find themselves under deep and conflictive processes of State re-design. Many

times these processes replicate the same old patterns of domination built upon

powerful clans, castes, ethnic groups, traditional elites and so on. In terms of

donor intervention, besides assisting the State institutions in the reform, it is

also necessary to support formerly oppressed groups to have their voices heard

as a mean to support social justice and diminish possible future conflicts. This

should be done even if privileged ruling class or Head Offices do not consider

it politically correct.

7.2. - Constituent Assembly and communicative democracy

As we have seen throughout the paper, a CA process comprises many issues

and aspects to be considered when the process is understood as a mechanism i)

to balance historical injustice and discrimination, ii) to prepare the State for

the globalized times coming ahead. These outcomes can be achieved through

processes of communicative democracy, where difference is openly

acknowledged and embraced and used as the starting point to look for

constitutional formulas which seek to accommodate the existing different

social and ethnic groups’ interests and worldviews.

7.3. - Public consultations

A public consultation may be easily manipulated and co-opted when led by a

stakeholder whose interests may be affected by the outcome of the

consultation. To avoid such manipulations an independent or neutral unit (as

neutral and independent as it can be) must be considered to facilitate the

process. It should be a unit with strong political negotiation skills and

competent technical capacities. If this cannot be achieved at least a governing

body comprising main stakeholders should be in place to make sure the

34



process is transparent and inclusive. These are activities donors could support

and by doing so buffer the political risks they may face as stated in section 7.1.

7.4. - Social identities and our positionality

We must be aware all the time about our social identity and positionality

(group differentiation) and how others may interpret our being there (social

categorization). As we must be able to understand how the social identities

around us have been formed and are making use of their position (elite,

professional consultants, peasant leaders, lay people, government officials

living out of donor funded programs, etc.) we also must make an effort to

critically look at our social identity and positionality. This means mirroring

ourselves using not like minded lenses too. As an activist or a donor

supporting social change we must be very aware of how the context is shaping

the social identities at play and how we, from our privileged position, can

influence the context for achieving social justice and change.

7.5. - Working together

We cannot expect to generate much change when working alone. Both

institutional networks and co-operative learning and working groups are

needed i) for emotional support, ii) to create a trustful environment for public

scrutiny of own assumptions, iii) to balance different existing worldviews

among the actors involved in the processes we are involved in, and iv) to learn

and change together as a mean for building up long lasting alliances. Ideally

these groups should comprise i) both political and technical actors, ii) our own

institutions as well as other key institutions related to our context, and iii)

different disciplines and genders.

7.6. – Looking at myself

Working at overseas, where I find myself immersed in multicultural contexts,

requires not only a high degree of empathy and openness toward others’

worldviews; it also takes a lot of courage, wisdom and honesty to question my

own assumptions so to change, when necessary, my worldview, attitudes and

behaviors. Thus being a development worker becomes an invitation to

challenge my primary identity. This cannot be achieved only through rational

35



thinking and intellectual debate; it requires a holistic human development

approach where mind, body and soul are consciously aligned and working

together. This is the major challenge we all must face, this is the major

challenge I face myself.

36



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Annexes

Table of Content

ANNEX TITLE

APopular pressure and congress division in relation to new

hydrocarbons law

B Santa Cruz and civic demands for departmental autonomy

CAndean development corporation’s pressure on the hydrocarbon

law

D Starting the consultation with the civic committees divided

E Popular actors’ position as regards to the constituent assembly

F Political trade-offs among regional elites and ruling class

42



ANNEX A

POPULAR PRESSURE AND CONGRESS DIVISION

IN RELATION TO NEW HYDROCARBONS LAW

Headline

“Starts the Congress ‘battle’ for approving the new gas law”

Date

19th October 2004

Article summary

The note comments on the initiation of the congress discussion regarding the

Hydrocarbon Law. It explains the two initial positions whereas the Congress

Commission (presided by MAS) pushes for a nationalist law and the

Executive proposes a more friendly law towards oil transnationals.

It also comments on the popular protests contemporary to the Congress

discussion. These protests concentrate much of grassroots organisations’ andindigenous political parties’ support.

43



44



ANNEX B

SANTA CRUZ AND CIVIC DEMANDS FOR

DEPARTMENTAL AUTONOMY

Headline 1

“Assembly determines a strike and demands a federal State”

Date

27th October 2004

Article summary

The article resumes the outcomes of a major popular and institutional

assembly occurred in Santa Cruz city after President Mesa called Santa Cruz

elites “provincial minded” for not considering the common good of all

Bolivians.

Some of the resolutions coming out of the assembly: i) demand a

federal state starting with an autonomy based State model, ii) denounce theweakness of the government to deal with the problems the country is

undergoing, iii) demand the Congress to call for a national referendum on

autonomy.

45



46



Headline 2

“Civic committees divided into two blocks due to the autonomy demand”

Date30th October 2004

Article summary

The article illustrates the division created amongst the civic movement due to

their divergent position around the autonomy demand. Whilst Santa Cruz ,

Tarija and Beni departments civic committees (non-Andean eastern

departments) support the call-in for a national referendum on autonomy,

Chuquisaca, La Paz and Cochabamba civic committees (Andean western

departments) reject the referendum arguing it will divide the country and

undermine the Constitution. Both blocks propose massive mobilizations to

defend their positions.

Santa Cruz civic committee vice-president German Antelo argues the

Constituent Assembly is a trap “because Beni, Santa Cruz and Tarija

departments will have fewer representatives in relation to the westerndepartments”.

47



48



ANNEX C

ANDEAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION’S

PRESSURE ON THE HYDROCARBON LAW

Headline

“CAF: Gas Law must be balanced and not partisan”

Date

9th November 2004

Article summary

The President of the Andean Development Corporation, Enrique Iglesias, paid

a visit to Bolivia in the midst of the Congress debate on the Gas Law. His

reminded the country that in case Bolivia wants to have international financial

support then the new Hydrocarbons Law must be clear about the rules of the

game and not respond just to partisan interests. He also commented on the

inefficacy of the government in terms of striking a balance between popular

demands and legal security for foreign investments.

49



50



ANNEX D

STARTING THE CONSULTATION WITH THE

CIVIC COMMITTEES DIVIDED

Headline

“Civic committees proposed two plans for the country’s decentralization”

Date

17th September 2004

Article summary

The article gives an account of the initial national meeting amongst civic

committees and the government as the starting point for the national

consultation on decentralization. It gives some details on the two main

positions held within the civic movement. One led by Santa Cruz civic

committee pushing for a differentiated and asymmetric departmental

autonomy process and the other one proposed by the Chuquisaca civic

committee; more conservative in terms of the need to keep a Unitarian State.

51



52



ANNEX E

POPULAR ACTORS’ POSITION AS REGARDS TO

THE CONSTITUENT ASEMBLY

Headline 1

“Another Santa Cruz is possible”

Date

26th January 2005

Article summary

This is another public statement broadcasted by a myriad of Santa Cruz

department institutions and grassroots organisations (peasants, gremials,

landless movements, NGOs, women organisations, and so on) denouncing the

Santa Cruz elites and demanding a democratic process through which bring

the changes needed to achieve social justice. Among other issues, they

demand establishment of the Constituent Assembly, State democratization,

Hydrocarbons Law approval, and so on. They again call for popular

mobilization to defend the national unity and the democratic process.

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54



Headline 2

“The original nations in defence of the Constituent Assembly and the natural

resources”

Date

1st February 2005

Article summary

Here we have another public statement broadcasted by the main national

newspapers in which Bolivia’s main indigenous organisations demand the

approval as soon as possible of the special law calling for the Constituent

Assembly. It announces popular mobilizations in case this law is not

approved.

55



56



ANNEX F

POLITICAL TRADE-OFFS AMONG REGIONAL

ELITES AND RULING CLASS

Headline

“Manifest to the Bolivian people. Toward a supportive and viable Bolivia”

Date

9th October 2004

Article summary

This is a public note published in the main national newspaper requested by

the Beni civic committee. It expresses the political trade-off between the vice-

minister and the President of the civic committee commented in the synthesis

paper. It critiques the option proposed to the Congress by MAS and supports

the Executive proposal.

57



58

Documents

retolaza (2005) public consultations and difference.the Bolivian decentralization case