The emergence of social movements can be considered a significant factor in regard to the successful implementation of neoliberal economic policy, such as privatization. The role of grievances has...Show moreThe emergence of social movements can be considered a significant factor in regard to the successful implementation of neoliberal economic policy, such as privatization. The role of grievances has been overlooked in the explanatory framework of how these movements emerge, which applies to the context of framing theory in particular. Therefore, this paper explores to what extent grievances caused by framing processes play a role in the emergence of social movements against neoliberal policies, such as privatization. The paper utilizes the case of the Cochabamba Water Wars, a conflict surrounding water privatization in Bolivia, to investigate to what extent grievances caused by frames contribute to the formation of the social movement, eventually causing the privatization’s reversal. The paper argues that the framing of Cochabamba’s water privatization as a threat to common cultural heritage, as well as a continuation of lacking political opportunities caused meaningful grievances that contributed significantly to the emergence of social mobilization. The paper demonstrates how social and cultural context affects the interpretation of neoliberal economic policies, especially privatization policies, and their acceptance. Therefore, the findings of the paper could be utilized by government officials to construct more efficient resource management policies, especially in the context of domestic water management.Show less
This thesis examines water privatization in Bolivia. It evaluates an episode in which privatized utilities failed to perform as expected by advocates of market reform. Consequently, they were taken...Show moreThis thesis examines water privatization in Bolivia. It evaluates an episode in which privatized utilities failed to perform as expected by advocates of market reform. Consequently, they were taken back into public ownership. Bolivia. What went wrong in Bolivia’s water sector? The private enterprises were not able to meet the mandates of the contract. The concessionaires had not been able to improve efficiency of water services. Subsequently, they imposed an extreme tariffs hike to cover the costs of investments. The promises of privatisation failed to materialize, and regretfully, the consumers of water services were the one’s suffering the most from it.Show less
Since 1995, the World Bank is the most dominant world actor in the international water sector through their large influence on policy making and contribution to financial aid for water projects....Show moreSince 1995, the World Bank is the most dominant world actor in the international water sector through their large influence on policy making and contribution to financial aid for water projects. Such financial aid comes with economic reform, including the privatization of key industries such as the water supply. In the 1980s Bolivia took a loan from the Bank, which meant that they had to adhere to such economic reform and privatized their water supply in Cochabamba. The World Bank has a water policy to which they should adhere. However, with the implementation of the privatization several instances of organized hypocrisy were highlighted. This hypocrisy created instances of corruption during the privatization of the water supply in Cochabamba in the period of 1999-2002.Show less
Humans are adapters. We not only adapt ourselves to the environment, more often than not we adapt the environment itself to suit our needs, our wishes, and our ideas. This urge to change does not...Show moreHumans are adapters. We not only adapt ourselves to the environment, more often than not we adapt the environment itself to suit our needs, our wishes, and our ideas. This urge to change does not stop with the environment. The human body itself is often used as a canvas where we express who we are, where we express our identity. This thesis discussed one type of such expression of identity: artificial cranial modification (often abbreviated as "ACM"). As the modification can only be done successfully on individuals younger than three years old, it does not express individual identity but rather the group identity the individual's parents belonged to. This makes cranial modification an interesting field of research, which can tell archaeologists many things about past populations. The two populations studied in this thesis originate from the Bolivian Andes; an area with a high percentage of modified crania but a low percentage of research. The aim of this work is thus to add to the information of cranial modification in the Bolivian Andes, which was done through the study of 60 mostly Tiwanaku-period (500 - 1000 CE) crania from two different Andean regions: the Altiplano, and the Cochabamba valles. The Cochabamba valles, although emulating the Tiwanaku culture, remained very much independent, a fact which is confirmed in the results of this thesis. The most striking difference turned out to be the influence of sex on modification presence, which was found to be statistically significant in the valles sample and not in the Altiplano crania. Other differences were found as well: annular modification is much more frequent in the Altiplano, with tabular being more popular in the valles. The annular types are mostly cylindrical in the valles whereas the conical variant is more common in the Altiplano. Occipitally curved tabular modifications only occur in the Altiplano, with the lambdoidally flattened variant being most common. Frontally curved tabular modifications, then, only occur in the valles. Lastly, erect modifications occurred relatively more in the Altiplano sample, where it made up half of the tabular subtypes, than in the valles. Osteological effects of ACM on the cranium were studied as well. These did not indicate regional results, showing that, all cultural differences aside, the populations were not too different from each other. The non-metric traits that seemed to be influenced by cranial modification in the sample are the prevalence of the left infraorbital foramen, right pterygo-spinous bridge and left tympanic dehiscence, as well as the metopic suture retention. The results show that although the populations lived near, and were in contact with, each other, regional cultural differences do exist. Extrapolating findings of the Altiplano's Tiwanaku culture to the rest of the Bolivian Andes is thus not correct, something that should be kept in mind for future (much needed) research in the area. This thesis was made possible by the archaeological museum INIAM of the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba and the zooarchaeological laboratory from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz, which granted access to their collections.Show less
