Interculturalidad. Reformas Constitucionales y Pluralismo Jurídico

El reconocimiento del derecho indígena o consuetudinario ha logrado abrir discusiones sobre las posibilidades e implicaciones del pluralismo jurídico, es decir, de la coexistencia de diversos órdenes normativos, supuestamente en términos de igualdad. Al mismo tiempo, el pluralismo jurídico permite incorporar algunos principios subyacentes en el derecho indígena al derecho estatal y, desde allí, construir una convivencia social donde la diferencia e igualdad pueden empezar a entretejerse

Estudios (inter)culturales en clave de-colonial

“Cultural studies” in Latin America make part of a naming policy manifested on legacies and frequently mapped as a whole, hiding or overlooking differences within themselves. This paper looks at the source of cultural studies in Latin America in general, and at the Quito Simón Bolívar Andean University in particular; as well as which policies are followed, which project(s) and which knowledge foundations and perspectives. It considers aspects involved in conceiving and building cultural studies as a political-intellectual project, inter-cultural, inter-epistemic decolonially-based and related challenges and hindrances, including them in the problematic of “uni”-versity itself.Los «estudios culturales» en América Latina forman parte de una política de nombrar inscrita en legados y cartografiados frecuentemente como totalidad, ocultando o dejando pasar por alto las diferencias a su interior. Este articula examina desde dónde nacen los estudios culturales en América Latina en general y en la Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar en Quito en particular, con qué política de nombramiento, qué proyecto(s) y qué bases y perspectivas de conocimiento. Considera qué implica concebir y construir los estudios culturales como proyecto político-intelectual, inter-cultural, inter-epistémico y de orientación de-colonial y los desafíos y obstáculos al respecto, incluyendo dentro de la problemática misma de la «uni»-versidad

Protesting too much: Alastair Darling's constructions after the financial crash

How did UK political elites publicly represent the economy after the Financial Crash? In his budget speeches, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alastair Darling (2007–2010), talked about finance and mortgages much more, and taxation much less, than one would expect by comparing him to other chancellors. With his rhetoric he constructed a vigorous defence of the financial sector and mortgage market, and described limited technical reforms comfortably. But as well as avoiding taxation as a topic, he appeared less comfortable and more inconsistent defending his taxation policies. Refusing to increase corporate or capital-gains taxes, he argued instead that top-percentile earners, banks, and tax evaders should pay more tax. Coming many months before Occupy would encamp at St. Paul’s, these are surprising characterizations of top-earner and financial taxation from an elite orator. I argue that Darling understood the power of anti-elite critique, and so was willing to criticize some limited and select elements of financial activity and taxation in order to protect more fundamental aspects of the financial system, particularly the capital upon which it depends. Via an appropriation of critical language about finance and the Crash, his elite rhetoric defensively protected owned-capital and corporate profit from other claims

Research methodologies in creative practice: literacy in the digital age of the twenty first century - learning from computer games

Literacy remains one of the central goals of schooling, but the ways in which it is understood are changing. The growth of the networked society, and the spread of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), has brought about significant changes to traditional forms of literacy. Older, print based forms now take their place alongside a mix of newer multi-modal forms, where a wide range of elements such as image, sound, movement, light, colour and interactivity often supplant the printed word and contribute to the ways in which meaning is made. For young people to be fully literate in the twenty-first century, they need to have clear understandings about the ways in which these forms of literacy combine to persuade, present a point of view, argue a case or win the viewers’ sympathies. They need to know how to use them themselves, and to be aware of the ways in which others use them. They need to understand how digital texts organise and prioritise knowledge and information, and to recognise and be critically informed about the global context in which this occurs. That is, to be effective members of society, students need to become critical and capable users of both print and multimodal literacy, and be able to bring informed and analytic perspectives to bear on all texts, both print and digital, that they encounter in everyday life. This is part of schools’ larger challenge to build robust connections between school and the world beyond, to meet the needs of all students, and to counter problems of alienation and marginalisation, particularly amongst students in the middle years. This means finding ways to be relevant and useful for all students, and to provide them with the skills and knowledge they will need in the ICT-based world of the Twentyfirst century. With respect to literacy education, engagement and technology, we urgently need more information as to how this might be best achieved

A Michael Handelsman: pensador-hacedor-escritor de afán intercultural y decolonial (Tributo)

This letter to Michael Handelsman is an exercise of reflection in which Catherine Walsh writes “co(n)versifying and co-thinking” with said author. The clear purpose is to remember and highlight the literary, intercultural and de-colonial task carried out by Handelsman, with relation to his work as a scholar devoted to Ecuadorian Literature, particularly, Afro-Ecuadorian, without having left aside –despite adopting the aforementioned point of view–, a reading of culture and society as a whole. Walsh’s words arise from a strong critic against literate power and a declared “personal-political-intellectual” empathy with her interlocutor, as privileged places of expression.Esta carta dirigida a Michael Handelsman es un ejercicio de reflexión en el que Catherine Walsh escribe “con-versando y co-pensando” con el explícito propósito de recordar y destacar la labor literaria, intercultural y decolonial de Handelsman, en relación a su labor como estudioso de la literatura ecuatoriana, de manera particular afro-ecuatoriana, cuya mirada afrocentrada no ha dejado de leer, desde ese lugar, la cultura y la sociedad en su conjunto. Las palabras de Walsh se entretejen desde una rotunda crítica al poder letrado y una declarada empatía afectiva “personal-político-intelectual” con su interlocutor, como lugares privilegiados de enunciación