عنوان

The understanding of the concept of development by indigenous groups in Bolivia

TLets514443

The understanding of the concept of development by indigenous groups in Bolivia

[Thesis]

Tejerina, Veronica

The University of Manchester

2010

Ph.D.

The University of Manchester

2010

Bolivia is a small land-locked country in the heart of Latin America with one of thelowest indicators of human development in the western hemisphere (UNDP, 2002).This relatively small country is, nonetheless, "wealthy in terms of cultural diversity andnatural resources. 36 different indigenous peoples among less than 10 million peoplepopulate Bolivia's one million square kilometers of territory" Oxfam (2008).This study focuses on not only exploring the concept of development as it isunderstood by indigenous groups in Bolivia (Quechua and Aymara in rural areas), butalso on exploring whether the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and HumanDevelopment Index (HDI) reflect this understanding.An interest in exploring this hypothesis - one that addresses divergentunderstandings of the concept of development between donors and recipients - arisesfrom: the relative failure in international organizations in achieving developmenttargets in Bolivia; Bolivia's ethnic composition; its distinctive features; and,importantly, the current political unrest, which has exacerbated racial and economictensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the nonindigenouscommunities of the eastern lowlands.Development policies and practices are founded on a selection of outcomes andgoals behind which lie a vision of human development. Due to the high percentagesof poverty in the world, there are competing definitions of development or wellbeing. Itis important to note that participants in development can differ in their approach todevelopment and this affects what they do (Copestake and Camfield, 2009).Current development aid agencies' policies and practices provide goals based on avision of human development. These goals and outcomes are represented within theHuman Development Reports and Millennium Development Goals. Therefore, itseems very important to know more about the goals of development for groups of thepopulation such as indigenous groups, in order to take into account the way they - asparticipants in development - think about their life (Copestake and Camfield, 2009).This study explores the concept of development as it is understood by indigenousgroups through social representation theory; and, moreover, it examines whether theMDGs and HOI reflect this understanding.

Tejerina, Veronica

The University of Manchester

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y