The Effect Of Neoliberal Multicultural Reforms In

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Nancy Postero's ethnography, Now We are Citizens, chronicles the struggle of the Indigenous people of Bolivia. For several years, the Indigenous people were not afforded the same rights as the rest of the population. They were viewed as savages and barbarians, and therefore not considered as citizens. The prejudices of the elites that controlled the government caused them to be completed excluded from society. The Indigenous Indians were not allowed to partake in government elections, and their land was taken from them also. This was due to multiculturalism and Bolivia's neoliberal form of government that had been in place for several years. After years of exclusion, there were reforms put in place in the 1990s. Although these reforms were enacted to give the indigenous population true citizenship, there were other unintended consequences that resulted. In the mid-1990s, the neoliberal multicultural reforms began. Under President Sanchez de Lozada, the congress amended Bolivia’s constitution declaring the country to be “multiethnic’ and “pluricultural” (Postero 124). In the following years, many political reforms were put in place. The purpose of these reforms was to change the relationship between the state and its indigenous people. As a result of the reforms, a new concept of indigenous citizenship would be created, which is based on the indigenous peoples participation in politics, ownership of territories, and intercultural education (Postero 124). These people, who make up almost 60 percent of Bolivia’s population, were finally beginning to be included. The reforms came about from the strong indigenous movement that occurred in the early 1990s. This movement became widely publicized and had received support from the church and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). There were economic reforms instituted as well. One major economic reform was the New
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