Bolivia, like most developing countries around the world, strove for decades to imitate Western and particularly U.S. methods of development, importing the latest technologies, institutions, crops, and livestock. Finally, beginning in the 1970s, faced with many striking instances of failure in the application of the North American modernization paradigm, diverse sectors of Bolivian civil society turned inward to rediscover their country's own multicultural identities and agrarian wisdom as sources of strength upon which to build their own socioeconomic development. The shift spawned a proliferation of development projects grounded in a new "indigenization" or revitalization of cultural traditions. Llamas, Weavings, and Organic Chocolate: Multicultural Grassroots Development in the Andes and Amazon of Bolivia is the story of Bolivian rural development and cultural change. Part I provides an overview of the history of rural development in Bolivia-the long history of anti-indigenous discrimination, the introduction of aid programs in the Western development paradigm, the rise of grassroots movements challenging this paradigm, and the array of initiatives now contributing to the revitalization of indigenous cultural resources. Part II consists of in-depth narratives of nine projects, giving an inside view of the processes that interweave cultural recuperation and developmental strategies. These stories illustrate the cultural barriers that must be overcome and the setbacks often faced by grassroots federations. The projects range from successful agro-exports such as organic chocolate and quinoa to the groundbreaking work of indigenous artists and artisans. In Part III, author Kevin Healy attempts to identify the numerous factors that helped engender successful outcomes in these projects and discusses the effects of globalization on Bolivian culture and development patterns. This inspirational story of social change led by idealism will be valuable for international policymakers, analysts, and aid officials, as well as native North and South Americans, and non-Native Americans who strongly identify with their struggles.

Formato	Tapa suave
Número de Páginas	528
Lenguaje	Inglés
Editorial	University of Notre Dame Press
Fecha de Publicación	2000-12-28
Dimensiones	8.9" x 5.9" x 1.2" pulgadas
Serie	Kellogg Institute Democracy and Development
Letra Grande	No
Con Ilustraciones	No
Temas	América Latina, Rural

Healy, Kevin

Kevin Healy has taught in the graduate schools of Georgetown, George Washington, American U. and Johns Hopkins (SAIS). Healy had a career with the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), a public corporation, which funds grassroots development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. He has had a long engagement with Bolivia at the IAF and also managed grant portfolios in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Honduras.