Het multiculturele Bolivia van Evo Morales – Nieuwe vormen van burgerschap – Deel Een

• door: Ton Salman en Koen de Munter

El Alto 2006 – Photo Joel Alvarez

Op 21 januari 2010 werd Evo Morales Aima voor de tweede maal geïnaugureerd als president van Bolivia. Precies vier jaar eerder, op 21 januari 2006 accepteerde Evo Morales, de eerste inheemse president van Bolivia, al een keer zijn ‘inheemse autoriteit’ tijdens een kleurrijke ceremonie in Tiwanaku, een indrukwekkende archeologische plaats ongeveer 70 kilometer van La Paz, de (informele) hoofdstad van Bolivia. Getooid in de traditionele kledij van een inheemse mallku – ‘condor’ of inheemse leider – werd hij toegejuicht door duizenden aanhangers die zwaaiden met de wiphala, de kleurrijke vlag die – hoewel dit ook betwist wordt – symbool staat voor alle inheemse volkeren van Zuid-Amerika. Vervolgens werd de president op 22 januari ’s ochtends beëdigd in het parlement door het omhangen van de presidentiële sjerp en het afleggen van de gelofte om de grondwet te respecteren. Rechterlijke en militaire prominenten, een aantal belangrijke buitenlandse politici en de nieuw verkozen leden van het parlement waren aanwezig.
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Het multiculturele Bolivia van Evo Morales – Nieuwe vormen van burgerschap – Deel Twee

• door: Ton Salman en Koen de Munter

El Alto Markt – Photo by Joel Alvarez

Aymara’s in El Alto: Traditie en vernieuwing
El Alto werd in Bolivia het zenuwcentrum van de protesten tegen het neoliberale beleid. In het overwegend inheemse El Alto (zie verder) werd dit beleid gezien als de politiek “van mestiezen en blanken”. De protesten die uiteindelijk leidden tot het vertrek van Sánchez de Lozada begonnen in El Alto begin september 2003 en breidden zich aanzienlijk uit nadat een protest in het stadje Warisata op de hoogvlakte hard uiteen werd geslagen door het leger, waarbij zes doden vielen. Na verschillende dagen van protesten en blokkades in El Alto ontstonden (voornamelijk benzine) tekorten in La Paz – alle verkeer naar La Paz moet namelijk door El Alto. Sánchez de Lozada en zijn regering besloten dat er een door militairen bewaakt konvooi van tankwagens door El Alto moest komen. De gevolgen waren gruwelijk: er vielen 67 doden die dag.
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From The Web – Africacheck.org

Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation that exists to fact-check claims made in the public arena, impartially and fairly, and publish the results. We also aim to spread the culture and enable the practice of fact-checking among the wider journalistic community.

In carrying out our work, we seek to abide by the best fact-checking practices, and adhere to three fundamental principles.
Impartiality: We seek, over time, to check all sides in any debate and we base our reports on fact not opinion.
Verifiability: We set out the evidence for our reports in such a way that readers may verify it for themselves.
Openness: Where we make mistakes, we correct as quickly and openly as possible.

How we work
How we select the claims
Each working day the Africa Check editor meets with colleagues to assess claims made in the public domain in South Africa and sift suggestions sent in by visitors to the site. We focus on claims that touch on the three broad areas of interest identified by the site and that may have significant impact if unchecked. And we strive to ensure that, over time, we check all the main sides in any debate.
Writing our reports
In writing our reports, we only use information that the readers can themselves verify. When setting out our conclusions, we link to the evidence we use be that a photo, photos, video, public documents or data analysis.

Read more: http://www.africacheck.org/

Time to say Goodbye. Again.

• by: Peter Herrmann

Prologue
You are cordially invited to read the following notes – but please accept: though reading the reflections is hopefully at times entertaining, the notes are not easy to comprehend, presenting thoughts as they are: interconnected, being a complex structure that cannot be easily deconstructed without doing damage to the overall existence. It had been the easy ways of looking at history that allowed the total demonisation of Zarathustra – in the postscript you will see the reasoning behind this reference. Having said this, you should allow the postscript to be a postscript, as I would otherwise made it myself a Prologue or a Prolegomena.

Looking once back, aiming on a huge leap forward – or: Luhmann’s Strawberry Cake

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.
When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children. – Pablo Picasso

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Being Human: Attraction And Relationships ~ The Journey From Initial Attachments To Romantic Love

• by: Knud S. Larsen, Reidar Ommundsen & Kees van der Veer

December 2018: Being Human. Relationships and You will be published completely online soon: Being Human – Contents

Many years ago two boys were walking home from school. They were seven years old, lived in the same neighborhood, but went to different grade schools. Although living close to each other they had not met before running into each other on this day on the road leading up the hill to their neighborhood. Both seemed quite determined to assert themselves that day, and soon they began pushing each other that gradually turned to wrestling, and attempts to dominate. After what seemed hours, the two little boys were still rolling down the surrounding hills as the sun was going down. Neither succeeded in achieving victory that day. In fact, they never again exchanged blows but became the best of friends. Today it is more than 50 years later, and their friendship has endured time and distance. Friendship is like a rusty coin; all you need to do is polish it at times!

In this essay we shall examine the research on attachment, attraction and relationships. The intrinsic interest in these fields by most people is shared by social psychologists, and attachment, attraction, and love relationships constitute one of the most prolific areas of investigation in social psychology. The early attachment theory advanced by Bowlby (1982) emphasized the importance of the field when he suggested that our attachments to parents to a large extent shape all succeeding relationships in the future. Other research focus on exchange and communal relationships and point to the different ways we have of relating to each other. The importance of relationships cannot be overemphasized since we as humans have a fundamental need to belong. Relationships also contribute to the social self as discussed in the book, and effects social cognition discussed in the same (see: at the end of this article). The variables that determine attraction may be understood theoretically as functions of a reward perspective.

The importance of relationships is demonstrated by findings that show that among all age groups relationships are considered essential to happiness (Berscheid, 1985; Berscheid & Reis, 1998). The absence of close relationships makes the individual feel worthless, powerless, and alienated (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Stroebe & Stroebe, 1996). Our very humanity is defined by our relationships (Bersheid & Regan, 2005).

1. Attachment: The start to relationships
This chapter is about the development of attachment, intimate relationships between adults, and the road leading toward love relationships. No greater love has a person than giving his life for another. This idea from the Bible brings to mind the passion of deep commitment and the willingness to sacrifice, even in the ultimate sense. This willingness to sacrifice is one manifestation of love, but as we all know there is much more to relationships and love.

The research described in the following pages concerns early attachment, and attraction and love between adults. These relationships may be institutionalized by marriage, or (registered) partnership, or take some other form (living-apart-together) in relationships. Since the vast majority of romantic relationships exist between heterosexual partners we describe the journey from attraction to romantic relationship from this perspective. There is little research so there is no way to know, however, there is no convincing reason to assume that this journey is completely different for homosexuals.

Most people will experience the delirious feelings of infatuation and love sometime in their lives. What is love? How can we achieve love? And how can we build these feelings into lasting relationships? Are there ways we can improve our chances for satisfying long-lasting and happy relationships? This chapter will show that there are behaviors to avoid, but that we can also contribute much to lasting attachments. Long-lasting romance depends on positive illusions and bringing novelty and renewal to our intimate relationships.

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Awareness Is Power: Tactics For Staying Safe In Violent Spaces

• by: Bridgett Sass

Unfinished Structure – Photo by author

Violence is everywhere (Lindiwe, Hector Peterson Residence).

In order to understand the concept ‘awareness’, Hastrup’s (1995) explanation of consciousness is invaluable, especially to identify with people’s behaviour in violent situations. She explains that our patterns of thinking are not subject to paths of practical reason, but that we rather constantly reformulate our whole existence through our actions; a reconsideration of our ideas of consciousness is thus necessitated (ibid.: 99). Hastrup reminds us that we are inarticulate and that expression is not limited to the verbal. Expression, rather, takes place in various forms (ibid.).

Given Hastrup’s suggestion to understand consciousness from multiple angles, we approach a field within which questions of ontology and methodology join: how do people think and how do we know? (ibid.; Ross 2004: 35). What tools should anthropologists use to access these forms of consciousness that are so intertwined in social space, affecting it, being affected by it and being its defining capacity? In an environment of violence, students are affected, they can potentially have an influence on this through the tactics they use to stay safe and, at the same time, can become the defining capacity of such an environment. These are among the dynamics involved in conceptualising ‘awareness’ of potential danger in potentially dangerous areas. This awareness is positioned on various levels.

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