Varför urfolksautonomi? : En kvalitativ studie om urfolkskvinnors argumentation kring autonomi i Bolivia

Sammanfattning: Bolivia's indigenous peoples have long been and are still exposed to extensive violations, such as exclusion in working life, education and health care. The indigenous peoples of the country are demanding their right to greater political participation and greater access to rights. The current president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, focuses on improving the situation for the indigenous people in the country, which has resulted in an ongoing major social change regarding indigenous relations with the state. What is happening in Bolivia is that indigenous peoples have the opportunity to create indigenous autonomies where groups can create laws and form a local government based on the group's norms and values. In this way, the groups own identities can be confirmed and their control over territory can be strengthened. However, the implementation of autonomies is weak and slow. The aim of this study is to investigate the issue of why indigenous peoples want autonomy, through a case study of Bolivia's first indigenous autonomy Charagua. Through interviews of women living in Charagua, the results has been analysed based on Will Kymlicka’s, Charles Taylor’s and James Tockman’s theories for understanding such debates. Working with these theories makes it possible to analyse whether the reasoning is about communitarian or liberal values. The conclusion of my study suggests that the argument consists of a combination of communitarian and liberal thoughts but with its foundation in communitarianism, since the group's identity, culture and dignity seems to be valued more than liberal principles.