Eight What happens when community organisers move into government? Recent experience in Bolivia
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Mike Geddes
Abstract
Since 2005, the Bolivian government has been in the hands of the MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo), a party which defines itself as the ‘political instrument’ of Bolivia’s strong social movements which brought Evo Morales and the MAS to power. The chapter explores how conceptions of class and race are reflected in the policies of a government in which many leading figures come from a community organising and social movement background. The MAS claims that ‘state power circuits (now) pass through the debates and decisions of indigenous, worker and neighbourhood assemblies’, rather than elite channels. However, as the MAS nears its first decade in power, tensions are beginning to show. In exploring these tensions, the chapter helps to illuminate both the potential and the pitfalls of an attempt to embed radical conceptions of class and race in the state, and to foreground community organising and community development principles in government policy.
Abstract
Since 2005, the Bolivian government has been in the hands of the MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo), a party which defines itself as the ‘political instrument’ of Bolivia’s strong social movements which brought Evo Morales and the MAS to power. The chapter explores how conceptions of class and race are reflected in the policies of a government in which many leading figures come from a community organising and social movement background. The MAS claims that ‘state power circuits (now) pass through the debates and decisions of indigenous, worker and neighbourhood assemblies’, rather than elite channels. However, as the MAS nears its first decade in power, tensions are beginning to show. In exploring these tensions, the chapter helps to illuminate both the potential and the pitfalls of an attempt to embed radical conceptions of class and race in the state, and to foreground community organising and community development principles in government policy.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Table of contents vii
- Rethinking Community Development ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Notes on contributors xi
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Contested concepts of class, past and present
- Class, inequality and community development: editorial introduction 3
- Competing concepts of class: implications and applications for community development 23
- Community development in the UK: whatever happened to class? A historical analysis 39
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Class, inequality and community development in context
- Working-class communities and ecology: reframing environmental justice around the Ilva steel plant in Taranto (Apulia, Italy) 59
- Race, class and green jobs in low-income communities in the US: challenges for community development 77
- Community development practice in India: Interrogating caste and common sense 93
- The impact of gender, race and class on women’s political participation in post-apartheid South Africa: challenges for community development 107
- What happens when community organisers move into government? Recent experience in Bolivia 121
- Community development: (un) fulfilled hopes for social equality in Poland 137
- Rural–urban alliances for community development through land reform from below 153
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Reconnecting class and inequality through community development
- Reconciling participation and power in international development: a case study 171
- Transformative education and community development: sharing learning to challenge inequality 189
- Community development and class in the context of an East Asian productivist welfare regime 205
- Community organising for social change: the scope for class politics 219
- Community unionism: looking backwards, looking forwards 235
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Table of contents vii
- Rethinking Community Development ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Notes on contributors xi
-
Contested concepts of class, past and present
- Class, inequality and community development: editorial introduction 3
- Competing concepts of class: implications and applications for community development 23
- Community development in the UK: whatever happened to class? A historical analysis 39
-
Class, inequality and community development in context
- Working-class communities and ecology: reframing environmental justice around the Ilva steel plant in Taranto (Apulia, Italy) 59
- Race, class and green jobs in low-income communities in the US: challenges for community development 77
- Community development practice in India: Interrogating caste and common sense 93
- The impact of gender, race and class on women’s political participation in post-apartheid South Africa: challenges for community development 107
- What happens when community organisers move into government? Recent experience in Bolivia 121
- Community development: (un) fulfilled hopes for social equality in Poland 137
- Rural–urban alliances for community development through land reform from below 153
-
Reconnecting class and inequality through community development
- Reconciling participation and power in international development: a case study 171
- Transformative education and community development: sharing learning to challenge inequality 189
- Community development and class in the context of an East Asian productivist welfare regime 205
- Community organising for social change: the scope for class politics 219
- Community unionism: looking backwards, looking forwards 235
- Index 251
