SGER: Conflicting Perspectives on Social and Political Dynamics in Bolivia

乔治梅森大学的Mark R.Goodale博士将对玻利维亚目前定于2009年1月举行的宪法公投事件进行短期快速反应研究。2008年8月，罢免投票启动了对激进的新国家宪法的投票。这位研究人员提出了一个创新的假设，即玻利维亚更广泛的社会冲突的根源在于两种相互竞争的人的理论的冲突，一种是偏离国际人权话语的人与社会的概念，另一种是人与社会的概念，其中本质差异被视为根本，并被视为国家和社会制度的基础。为了验证这一假设，研究人员将(1)对积极参与选举的人进行民族志访谈；(2)对投票之前、期间和之后的宪法过程进行观察分析；以及(3)对各种平面和媒体来源进行内容分析，以了解在玻利维亚快速社会变革时期公众舆论是如何受到影响的。这一简短的项目为提高社会科学对后冷战时期社会和政治冲突的理解以及相互竞争的人的理论在这些冲突中所起的作用奠定了基础。国际和平协会将与玻利维亚致力于和平解决社会冲突的大学和非政府组织建立机构联系。该项目还支持来自代表不足群体的一名研究生的教育，该研究生将在该领域协助研究人员。

Dr. Mark R. Goodale, of George Mason Univesity, will undertake short-term rapid response research on events surrounding the constitutional referendum in Bolivia, currently scheduled for January 2009. In August 2008, a recall vote set in motion a vote on a radical new national constitution. The researcher has developed an innovative hypothesis that the broader social conflict in Bolivia has its roots in a clash over two competing theories of the person, one dervied from the discourse of international human rights and the other asserts a notion of the person and society in which essential difference is seen as fundamental and is made the basis for state and social institutions.In order to test this hypothesis, the researcher will (1) conduct ethnographic interviews with those actively involved in the election; (2) perform observational analysis on the constitutional process before, during, and after the vote itself; and (3) perform a content analysis of various print and media sources in order to understand how public opinion is being influenced during this period of rapid social change in Bolivia.This brief project lays the groundwork for improving social scientific understanding of both social and political conflict in the post-Cold War period and the role that competing theories of the person play in these conflicts. The PI will forge institutional linkages with universities and NGOs in Bolivia that are working on the peaceful resolution of the social conflict. The project also supports the education of a graduate student from an underrepresented group who will assist the researcher in the field.