Towards a discourse of inclusion? Tensions between policy and practice in rural Bolivia A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Martina Arnal IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Mary Hermes, Adviser December 2015 © Martina Arnal 2015 Acknowledgements I extend sincere thanks to my partner, Michael Wilson, who has fueled and supported my aspirations to continue learning. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to my parents, Luis and Elvira Arnal, for their unconditional love and help over the years as I faced this PhD adventure. Thank you for being there for me, always offering a generous hand or wise words. My thanks also go to my siblings, Camila and Nicolás, for their loving support throughout this endeavor. For some time now, I have been receiving a ‘scholarship’ from loved ones in Bolivia. My cousin, Maria Isabel Cariaga, has provided me with a place to stay, a warm bed, food to eat, counsel, spiritual advice, laughs, and a home for my cat, while I pursued transnational research and study over the course of two years between 2013-2015. I also want to heartily and sincerely thank the rest of her family: Javier, Joaquin, Briana and Sabrina, for their love, support and patience as I undertook life and work challenges under their roof. As an extension of this familial support, I want to thank Maisa’s parents, Coco and Isabel, for their generosity and unconditional support. A further extension of this familial gratitude, thanks go to Andrea Prudencio who supported me with her insight and good company as I finished my last dissertation revisions. I also wish to thank my cousin Maria Crespo, who beckoned me home to Bolivia in 2010 with a generous offer to stay with her and her family: Juan Pablo, Lucas and Julián, as I located my research site. As an extension, I wish to also thank Maria’s parents: Jorge and Adela, for generously opening their doors to me, and especially Jorge, for connecting me with my research site and an invaluable network. In the U.S., I want to thank my cousin, Manuela Arnal, and her family: Luis, Cristina, Daniela and Fernanda, for their loving support over i the years. Also, thank you to Nora Claros, both family and friend, for her intellect and savvy advice that sustained me during hard times. Of course, my gratitude can be extended to all my family, to the Crespo-Velasco’s and Arnal’s, strewn across the U.S., Bolivia, Chile, and other parts of the world. They continually inspire me and fuel my desire to “pass on the family torch,” making important contributions across fields such as education, the arts, humanities, politics and public policy, in the hopes of “giving back,” in particular to our own necessitated Bolivian society. In a concluding acknowledgment to family, I want to thank my grandfather, Alberto Crespo, for instilling in me the importance of “knowing yourself.” I want to thank the friends in Bolivia that also made the culmination of my PhD degree possible. Particularly, I want to thank Sarah Mechtenberg for her unwavering friendship and personal/professional support over the past 5 years; Maya Crone for her wisdom, kind words and yogi guidance as I often struggled with obstacles along the road; Hugh Smeltekop for his “sabiduría”, support and intellect; Eliana Undurraga for her sharp mind, kind heart and open character that instilled in me the confidence to transform my own heart and mind. Extended thanks go to Centro Kryon for the Reiki, Kabbalah and meditation classes that helped me face not just this PhD adventure, but also many of life’s challenges, with grace and strength. A nod of thanks also go to Your Yoga in Minneapolis, especially to David and Meghan, for inspiring in me a dedicated and mindful practice that also allowed me to face life’s challenges with grace and strength. I wish to warmly thank my supervisors of three years and one year, Professor Kendall King and Professor Mary Hermes, respectively. Although tough and demanding, Kendall has been an inspiring supervisor not solely due to her enthusiasm for messy and ii complex ethnographic engagements, intercultural encounters, and contentious topics, but also due to her sound theoretical command. She has really inspired me to think, and to think again. I also want to thank my second adviser, Mary, who, although not a Latin Americanist, she warmly welcomed supervision of a dissertation on Bolivian education policy due to – I believe – her interest and commitment to social change; a stance which I truly admire. I also wish to thank my two remaining committee members, Cynthia Lewis and Frances Vavrus, for their sustaining work and guidance that challenged me to work hard and intelligently. Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank Noro Andriamanalina and Jasmine Tang. Thank you, Noro, for your kind nature, fortitude and insight, as I navigated an often-tricky doctoral path. My deepest gratitude to Jasmine for your immeasurable guidance about the dissertation genre, helping me to improve my writing style and to navigate personal and professional matters; your help has helped me get through the toughest part of the program and getting to PhDone! I cannot thank enough the community of Curriculum and Instruction and Comparative International Development Education at the University of Minnesota. I say community, because that is what it has been to me: both a place of study and a home of mutual support and reciprocity, encouragement and friendship. Particular thanks go to Linda Goldstone, for your unconditional support and friendship, Tamara Weiss-Rhodes for your genuineness, sense of humor and commitment to social issues, Hanife Cakici for your insight and wealth of knowledge on matters trivial and profound, and to Amy Pekol for your support, and for introducing me to new ideas and lifelong connections. I also iii want to thank Professors Tim Lensmire and Vichet Chhuon for your encouragement in my first semester and beyond. All of you made the difference. I’m especially thankful to the theorists and educational researchers before me, particularly to those Bolivian women and men carrying out research in our ethno- graphically rich yet societally complex country, across complementary academic fields in the social sciences. The examination of contemporary Bolivian issues in education, sociology, history, linguistics, public policy and politics surely needs innovative and courageous methodological and theoretical approaches. Agradecimientos Extiendo un agradecimiento sincero a mi pareja, Michael Wilson, quien ha alimentado y apoyado mis aspiraciones de seguir aprendiendo. Agradezco a mis padres, Luis y Elvira Arnal, por brindarme su amor y apoyo incondicional a través de los años de estudios en pos del doctorado. Muchas gracias por acompañarme, por siempre darme una mano y por sus palabras alentadoras. También, doy las gracias a mis hermanos, Camila y Nicolás, por brindarme su apoyo incondicional. Desde hace algún tiempo, he recibido una especie de “beca” de mis seres queridos en Bolivia. Mi prima, María Isabel Cariaga, me ha brindado alojamiento, una cama, comida, asesoramiento, consejo espiritual y un hogar para mi gato, mientras yo investigaba y escribía mi tesis a nivel transnacional durante los últimos dos años, entre el 2013 y 2015. También quiero agradecer de manera cordial y sincera al resto de su familia, Javier, Joaquín, Briana y Sabrina por su amor, apoyo y paciencia mientras enfrentaba los desafíos de la vida y festejaba mis triunfos bajo su techo. Como una extensión de este apoyo familiar, quiero agradecer a los padres de Maisa, Coco e Isabel, iv por su generosidad y apoyo incondicional. Una extensión más de mi agradecimiento a esta familia incluye a Andrea Prudencio, quien me ha apoyado con su sabiduría y buena compañía mientras yo terminaba las últimas revisiones de mi tesis. Quisiera también agradecer a María Crespo, mi prima, quien me invitó a volver a Bolivia ofreciéndome la opción de quedarme en su casa con ella y su familia, Juan Pablo, Lucas y Julián, cuando buscaba el sitio para mi investigación en 2010. Luego, me ofreció su apoyo cuando trabajé como voluntaria en 2011 y cuando realicé un estudio piloto en el 2012 en dicho sitio. Además, quisiera agradecer a los padres de María, Jorge y Adela, por compartir su casa de manera generosa conmigo, y especialmente a Jorge, por conectarme con mi sitio de investigación y con una red valiosa de contactos profesionales. En los EEUU, quiero agradecer a mi prima, Manuela Arnal y a su familia, Luis, Cristina, Daniela y Fernanda, por su apoyo y amor a través de los años. Un agradecimiento especial a Nora Claros por su intelecto y consejos sabios que me sustentaban durante momentos difíciles. Por supuesto, se extiende mi agradecimiento a toda mi familia, a los Crespo- Velascos y Arnales quienes están repartidos a través de EEUU, Bolivia, Chile y otras partes del mundo. Ellos me inspiran continuamente y me alientan con el deseo de “pasar la antorcha,” haciendo aportes importantes en las áreas de la educación, las artes, las humanidades y la política, siempre con la esperanza de ayudar, especialmente a nuestra sociedad boliviana necesitada. Para concluir con los agradecimientos a mi familia, quiero agradecer a mi abuelo, Alberto Crespo, por inculcar en mi la importancia de “conocerse a uno mismo.” v Deseo agradecer a los amigos en Bolivia que han posibilitado la culminación de mi doctorado y tesis. Agradezco a Sarah Mechtenberg por su firme amistad y su apoyo personal y profesional durante los últimos cinco años; a Maya Crone por su sabiduría, sus palabras amables y la orientación de yogi mientras yo lidiaba con los obstáculos en mi camino; a Hugh Smeltekop por su amabilidad, amistad e intelecto; a Eliana Undurraga por su sabiduría, corazón amable y carácter abierto, inculcando en mí la confianza para transformar mi propio ser.