The Re-politization of Intercultural Discourse Within Development Studies: An Andean Case

ABSTRACT

The expectations of intercultural discourse promoted by international cooperation in Peru does not seem to hold against the tensions formed from negotiating development. Instead of a depoliticised understanding of interculturality – found in the literature about Peru and elsewhere – the findings of this research urge to expose the complexity of intercultural practice. This call for the re-politicisation of cross-cultural interactions under the umbrella of interculturality. To sustain my argument I will present the case of Andean communities and development experts encounters amid a development action-research project. This case serves to understand that even in the occasions in which heterogeneous groups are supposed to benefit from interaction, there are tensions arising from it. Hence, making such tensions an inseparable element for the analysis of intercultural practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Interculturality
• Peru
• international cooperation
• power
• climate change adaptation
• indigenous

Disclosure statement

I have been professionally involved with one of the organisations promoting the case study. The research this is article is based on has been sent to the organisations involved. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, I have not received any response. Nonetheless, the case is presented as a fictionalised ethnography to minimise any potential harm.

Ethics approvals

This research has been conducted following all the ethic guidelines of University College London. It has been approved by the UCL Research Ethics Committee (Project ID Number): 10655/001. While the majority of participants are bilingual (Quechua and Spanish), only a limited number (mostly young people) are literate. For this reason, consent was achieved by oral means, explaining to each interviewee the aim of the research and that they could drop out at any given moment. Where data were collected at CC assemblies and other events, consent was obtained through other means. For example, the research aims were explained to the large assemblies in each of the communities of the CC.

Notes

1 Instituto Lingüistico de Verano constituted a practical example of the government aim for the ‘integration’ of indigenous populations of the Peruvian Amazon, even before the concept of interculturality was included in policy discussions. The ILV was an international institution linked to the Catholic Church which signed an agreement with the Peruvian government in 1948 (the last year of Luis Valcárcel as minister of education) (Chirif and Garcia Hierro, 2007). The effects of it were multiple because it advanced the Christianisation of indigenous people but also aimed to study indigenous languages and provide access to bilingual education and ultimately the opening of means to extend citizenship to forgotten Peruvians (Marzal, 1998). However, their legacy epitomised through the bilingual schools, has been criticised because, according to Ames (2010), drawing on Stoll (1985), it created tensions between their orientation to make indigenous "civilised" and local culture. The work of ILV was enabled by a profound conviction of indigenismo politicians like Valcárcel who saw in bilingual education, and formal education in general, the potential to ‘include’ subaltern cultures to the predominant mestizo Peruvian culture (Adanaque et al., 2011). Thus, it is not surprising that discussions leading to interculturality were taking place around critical perspectives towards inequalities in Peru, nonetheless, inside the homogenising genealogy of mestizaje (De la Cadena, 2015).

2 According to Ames (2002) this NGO contributed to implementing the first school for bilingual native teachers in the Amazonia run by grassroots organisations (i.e. AIDESEP) http://www.terranuova.org/terra-nuova-en/our-story

3 "It is important to distinguish between interculturality as a descriptive concept and as an ethic-political proposal. As a descriptive concept it refers to diverse ways of the relation among cultures factually found in social life […] I will refer to interculturality as an ethic-political proposal […] as an achievable utopia" (Tubino, 2002 p. 73).

4 For in-depth analysis of the case study, you can read the book ‘Development, Interculturality and Power: Translating an NGO-led development intervention in the Peruvian Andes’ by Bruno Chichizola (2022).

5 This article acknowledges the problematic use of the term traditional knowledge as opposed to non-traditional (Agrawal, 1995). A reductionist classification that confronts traditional and scientific knowledge is also found within development experts’ discourse about DPTK. Hence, I will keep using TK as to make clear the intrinsic difference proposed by development experts.

6 To reach consensus about the number is hard to find in the CC due to general misinformation and non-necessarily rigorous data management.

7 Even though the meeting was held in the CC only seven operators and four members of the CC collectives were selected to attend in the representation of the whole of the CC.

8 According to the argument made by Viveiros de Castro (2004) about cultural translation, it would be difficult to sustain that the process of translation is possible without betrayal. That means without a necessary modification from its original source.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bruno Chichizola

Bruno Chichizola Doctor of Development Planning with research interests in development studies, human rights, indigenous movements, intercultural studies and climate change adaptation.