Gender Equity and Interculturalidad: The Dilemma in Bolivian Education

Abstract

Bolivia's educational reform faces a conflict between two goals—interculturalism and gender equity—which tend to be polarked in educational debates by advocates on both sides. The latter, as narrowy conceived throu h the application of Western strategies in an attempt to remedy overt sexist discrimination, is absent from the worldview of many indigenous groups, but is a priority for external funding agencies. In this context, preoccupation with gender is often perceived as an imposition of foreign values, while the concept of interculturalism tends to be limited to a non critical respect for indigenous cultural values. The question educators face is: Can we critically analyze indigenous gender relations and identities, in a context of mutual respect, without undermining local values and practices? Analysis of the philosophical and political underpinnings of both interculturalism and gender equity in Bolivian educational policy and practice shows that, far from being incompatible, the two are tightly interdependent and cannot be satisfactorily pursued in isolation from each other.