The presence of critical thinking in the altiplano Peruvian

The development of critical thinking in the context of the social sciences, has its bases in Europe, today it is known as critical theory, is an important reference, not only for Europe but for the social sciences in the world. In that act came from Latin America some intellectuals who are now leaders in the development of critical thinking. Therefore the goal is visible from the daily life of the plateau critical thinking, where the academy has decontextualized and disconnected from reality but the Quechua and Aymara people in the historical process known face and embody the great social problems facing peoples, despite limitations and stigmatization they have developed daring thoughts of hope against the social and environmental collapse, which some would call it common thoughts. Faced with these ways of dealing with the crisis, conservative thought, has not yet been cataloged or give a nomenclature from sociology, anthropology, education, philosophy, political science, economics, etc., because their roots, theoretical and methodological are anchored in Europe, North America and Asia, which confirm and universities legitimizing these recipes. This does not mean rejecting Western European knowledge but is to debate how is that even other forms of thought and action are recreated from the Andes. Despite adversity it must be retaken for the decolonization of knowledge and bet on respect for human dignity

Quando as fronteiras transnacionalizam as pessoas: repensar o transnacionalismo migrante na tríplice fronteira andina

This article derives from ethnographic studies developed in the Northern Chilean territories that lie adjacent to Peru and Bolivia. The research results suggest that the daily activities of transborder inhabitants generate frictions between the local inscription of social practices, and the transnationalization of communitarian knowledge, economies and memories. These frictions situationally update the national identities in these areas. Over the last two decades, an idea has prevailed in migratory studies that the migrant’s border crossings articulate transnational social fields between origin and host societies, leading to a globalization “from below.” Ethnographic findings defy this conception, since the social networks and practices that interconnect these borderlands predate the establishment of the national frontiers. It was not the communities who transnationalized the territories: the borders transnationalized them. I will illustrate this assertion by ethnographically following Joanna, an Aymaran shepherdess that found a transnational solution to the lack of successors to her shepherding activities.O artigo resulta de ­estudos etnográficos realizados em territórios do Norte chileno adjacentes ao Peru e à Bolívia. Os resultados da pesquisa sugerem que as atividades dos habitantes transfronteiriços geram fricções entre a inscrição local das práticas sociais e a transnacionalização de conhecimentos, economias e memórias. Estas fricções atualizam situacionalmente as identidades nacionais nestes espaços. Nas últimas duas décadas, predominou nos estudos migratórios a conceção de que os cruzamentos de fronteira pelos migrantes articulam campos sociais transnacionais entre origem e destino, conduzindo a uma “globalização por baixo”. Os achados etnográficos desafiam esta conceção, pois as redes sociais e práticas que interconectam as áreas estudadas antecedem o estabelecimento das fronteiras nacionais. Não foram as comunidades que transnacionalizaram os territórios, foram as fronteiras. Ilustrarei esta afirmação seguindo etnograficamente a Joana, pastora aimará que encontrou uma solução transnacional para a falta de sucessores nas suas atividades de ­pastoreio.Fil: Lube Guizardi, Menara. Universidad de Tarapacá; Chile. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Farmers' willingness to adopt irrigation for Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) in communities of the central altiplano of Bolivia

Quinoa is considered a strategic crop because it is well adapted to the adverse abiotic conditions of the Bolivian Altiplano; however, the average yield is low. Previous studies have demonstrated that quinoa yield would increase with deficit irrigation technology. Nevertheless, to irrigate quinoa is not a normal practice in the farming systems of the Altiplano. This paper examines the main factors that determine the attitude of farmers towards adopting deficit irrigation using a sample of 137 surveys in seven communities of the Central Altiplano. Statistic analysis demonstrates that the most important factors influencing farmers' willingness for irrigation adoption are the acreage planted with quinoa, quantity of surplus production for trading, and having irrigation experience. Also, the age and education level were important to know willingness to adopt a new technology. Therefore, deficit irrigation is more likely to be performed in areas where farmers own larger fields and where there is already certain type of irrigation

Film policy and the emergence of the cross-cultural: exploring crossover cinema in Flanders (Belgium)

With several films taking on a cross-cultural character, a certain ‘crossover trend’ may be observed within the recent upswing of Flemish cinema (a subdivision of Belgian cinema). This trend is characterized by two major strands: first, migrant and diasporic filmmakers finally seem to be emerging, and second, several filmmakers tend to cross the globe to make their films, hereby minimizing links with Flemish indigenous culture. While paying special attention to the crucial role of film policy in this context, this contribution further investigates the crossover trend by focusing on Turquaze (2010, Kadir Balci) and Altiplano (2009, Peter Brosens & Jessica Woodworth)

Climate change and crop diversity: farmers’ perceptions and adaptation on the Bolivian Altiplano

Crop diversity is central to traditional risk management practices on the Andean Altiplano and may find renewed importance in adapting to climate change. This study explored the role of crop diversity in farmers’ adaptation actions in eight Aymara communities on the northern Bolivian Altiplano. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including multifactor analysis and a community resilience self-assessment, we investigated how farmers’ use of diversity in adaptation is related to their perceptions of crop and variety tolerances and other environmental, social, and economic factors. Few crops and varieties were perceived as tolerant to increasingly intense and unpredictable drought, frost, hail, and pest and disease outbreaks. Some local crops and varieties were perceived as vulnerable to emerging conditions (e.g. oca, papalisa, isaño), whereas bitter potatoes and wild relatives of quinoa and cañahua were perceived as highly stress tolerant and provide food in harsh periods. A total 19% of households surveyed (N = 193) had introduced new crops or varieties—often disease resistant or early maturing—as an adaptive action. Introduction of commercial crops was a common adaptation action, reflecting farmers’ response to warming temperatures and changing economic opportunities, but greater sensitivity of the introduced crops may cause maladaptation. Despite intensification of cropping systems, households continue to maintain a median four potato varieties with different tolerance traits, yet this risk management practice was not perceived as adaptation. Strengthening resilience will require a combination of actions, including maintaining and expanding crop portfolios and restoring soil and ecosystem health, using both traditional and innovative approaches

Visualizing the Anthropocene dialectically: Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens’ eco-crisis trilogy

The ambition of this article is to propose a way of visualizing the Anthropocene dialectically. As suggested by the Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen and the professor of biology Eugene F. Stoermer, the term Anthropocene refers to a historical period in which humankind has turned into a geological force that transforms the natural environment in such a way that it is hard to distinguish between the human and the natural world. Crutzen and Stoermer explain that the Anthropocene has begun after the Holocene, the geological epoch that followed the last ice age and lasted until the industrial revolution. Drawing on a number of figures such as the “tenfold” increase in urbanisation, the extreme transformation of land surface by human action, the use of more than 50% of all accessible fresh water by humans, and the massive increase in greenhouse emissions, Crutzen and Stoermer conclude that the term Anthropocene describes aptly mankind's influence on ecological and geological cycles (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000, p.17). The wager of this article is that we need to identify ways to visualize the Anthropocene dialectically and I proceed to do so using as a case study Jessica Woodworth's and Peter Brosen's trilogy on the conflict between humans and nature, which consists of Khadak (2006), Altiplano (2009), and The Fifth Season (La Cinquième Saison, 2012)

The question of rationality in front of the diversity of knowledge practices

International audienceThe diversity of knowledge practices that correspond, in different cultural systems, to what we call «science» in our own (or owns), asks the question not only of knowing whether these sciences or knowledges may be compared and how, but also, more deeply, that of the type of rationality which underlines them. We intend to situate some aspects of the latter question from a methodological point of view, philosophical as well as historical. We show, in particular, that history of science provides in this respect elements, by permitting to recognize, under the transformations of the contents of knowledge, correlative transformations of rationality itself that make possible to discover, to recognize and to assimilate new knowledges.La diversité des pratiques de connaissance qui correspondent, dans des systèmes culturels différents, à ce que nous appelons «science» dans le nôtre (ou les nôtres) pose la question non pas seulement de savoir si ces sciences ou connaissances sont comparables et comment, mais aussi, plus profondément, celle de la rationalité qui les sous-tend. On se propose de situer quelques aspects de cette dernière question d'un point de vue méthodologique, tant philosophique qu'historique. On montre, en particulier, que l'histoire des sciences fournit à cet égard des éléments, en laissant discerner, sous les transformations des contenus de connaissance, des transformations corrélatives de la rationalité qui permettent de découvrir, de reconnaître et d'assimiler les connaissances nouvelles