Workers Inbolivia: Their Voicesand Their Analysis

"WORKERS INBOLIVIA: THEIR VOICESAND THEIR ANALYSIS"

2012-2013

At the beginning of2012, the Latin AmericaDesk of theIISH(International Instituteof Social History), initiated begun a project to digitizesome ofthe tapespreserved by theMUSEF(National Museumof Ethnography andFolklore) between 1982and 1997. The digital collectionincludes 1.851cassetteson labor topicsinBolivia recorded in different workers’ meetings. This is why it hasbeencalled"Workers inBolivia: their voicesand their analysis".

For the digitalization of the tapes an agreementwas madebetween theIISHandMUSEF in order to obtain benefits for both institutions.

Audio tapesrescuedthe voicesof peasants and indigenous people, miners, coca producers (or “cocaleros”), teachers andartisanswithin their meetings. These different workers havean oral cultureand very occasionally they leave traces in written documents. This is why these audios are valuablesourcesand uniquedocuments for the historical research.Thanks to these oral documents,theresearcherscan have access to thecontext of the period, tothe ideology, organization, strategiesandsocio-politicalreadingthat the workers hadduring the process ofrestoration of the democracy,the periodof transitiontoward a new economic model, theneoliberal,and the institutionalpolitical practice of the representative democracy.

Besidesworker’s voices, there are also audio tapes that recordedanalysis of different public figures and intellectualscoming from thetrade union sector and the politicalsphere, from the academic area and the left that analyzeddifferent topics of the period. These voices with macro-social analysis' complement worker’s voices.

This allows us to understand the importance of the project in terms of the rescueof the collective memory on social and labor struggles, particularlythe experiencesafterthe period of dictatorship that gave birth tonew projects of social emancipation which raised another state model: the one that is presentin Bolivia since the year 2006 based on the the new Constitution that has been approved by the Constituent Assembly.

The 1.835 cassettes-hours correspond to 224 events. Each cassette was described through 44 fields:

Area / No. of fields
Area of Identity / 7
Area of Context / 8
Area of Content and Structure / 15
Area of Notes / 1
Area of Access and Use / 8
Area of control of description / 5
TOTAL: / 44

The detailed description allows sophisticated searches and indexes. There are 1.811 individuals and 275 institutions who participated in the meetings.

This project was organized by the Latin American Desk. The responsible for the Digital collection was Cesar Lunasco who worked in close relationship with the Representative, Pilar Uriona.

Thedigitized materialcan be divided intotwo groups:

1)Workers’ voices

Here we have the tapes withthe voices oftheworkers like:

Peasant Congresses (1985-1994)

First Peasant National CongressofAgrarian Reform (23 tapes, 1983)

2ndNational Congressof Peasant Workers ofBolivia (CSUTCB) (9 tapes, 1983)

2ndCongress of the UniqueTrade UnionFederationofPeasant Workers (FSUTC) of NorthernPotosí: Interviews with the main leaders (2 tapes, 1983)

3d.Congress ofPeasant Unity (CSUTCB) (20 tapes, 1987)

3d. Peasant Congress (CSUTCB) (3 tapes, 1987)

3d. Congress of theFederation of Peasant WomenofBolivia (4 tapes, 1988)

Fourth CSUTCB Congress (24 tapes, 1989)

FifthOrdinary Congress of CSUTCB (30 tapes, 1992)

Fifth Departamental Congress of the DepartmentalFederationofPeasant Workers of La Paz (12 tapes, 1988).

Extraordinary Congress about Fundamental Law of Agrarian Reform (17 tapes)

VII CSUTCB Congress (17 tapes, 1996)

CSUTCB Extraordinary Congress. Report. (14 tapes, 1988)

CSUTCB First Expanded National Congress (14 tapes, 1988)

CSUTCB First Expanded National Congress (9 tapes, 1989)

CSUTCB Second Extraordinary Expanded National Congress (4 tapes, 1991)

CSUTCB Expanded National Congress (7 tapes, 1989)

CSUTCB Ninth Expanded National Congress (8 tapes, 1990)

Farmers, IndigenousandOriginating Women Expanded National Congress (10 tapes, 1995)

Central and Unique Assembly of farmworkers of the Ingavi province (2 tapes, 1987)

Northern Potosi’s Farmworkers Assembly about miners strike (15 tapes, 1986)

CSUTCB Meeting about the Territory, Dignity and Life March (5 tapes, 1990)

1st. Regional MeetingofIndigenous and Peasant Women (5 tapes, 1994)

10thConferenceof Rural Workers about Mining and Agrarian Reform (10 tapes, 1988 and 1990)

Mining Congresses

1stExtraordinary Congress of Goldmining cooperatives (10 tapes, 1988)

XXII Mining National Congress of the Bolivia’s Mineworkers Federation (FSTMB) (30 tapes, 1988)

XXIII National Congress of the Bolivia’s Mineworkers Federation (FSTMB) (35 tapes, 1991).

XXIV National Congress of the Bolivia’s Mineworkers Federation (FSTMB) (34 tapes, 1993).

XXXI National Congress of the Small Mining (3 tapes, 1988).

Congress of Mining Housewives (14 tapes, 1986).

Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB about co-management and COMIBOL (10 tapes, 1986)

Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB about economic crisis in Bolivia (26 tapes, 1987)

Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB and the Bolivia’s Labor Confederation (COB) about miner proletarians and struggles in Matilde’s mine (11 tapes, 1985)

Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB about mining history (12 tapes, 1986).

Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB (6 tapes, 1987)

Expanded National Congress of relocated miners (14 tapes, 1988)

Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB and COB (10 tapes, 1988)

Third Expanded National Congress of Mining Housewives) (10 tapes, 1991)

VI Expanded National Congress of the FSTMB (6 tapes,1995)

FSTMB’s Assembly about the Workers Socialist Party (22 tapes, 1985)

National Conference of mining leaders of the FSTMB about Huanuni mine (10 tapes, 1988)

1st. National Meeting ofPallirisWorkers (women who collect mineral) in mining cooperatives (14 tapes, 1994)

Workers Congresses

COB’s Tribute toMay 1(2 tapes, 1983)

Workers Meeting for May 1(1 tape, 1983)

COB’s 1st. National Congress ofEducation (15 tapes, 1988)

COB’s 1st. OrganicCongress (15 tapes, 1991)

Second Federation ofState Workers Departamental Congress (29 tapes, 1988)

Second Congressofbank workers (6 tapes, 1988)

COB’s V National Congress (4 tapes, 1987)

VI National Congress of Social Workers (4 tapes, 1989)

COB’s VI National Congress (37 tapes, 1984)

COB’s VII National Congress (23 tapes,1987)

COB’s VIII National Congress (46 tapes, 1988)

COB’s IX National Congress (51 tapes, 1992)

COB’s X National Congress (33 tapes, 1994)

COB’s XI National Congress (45 tapes, 1996)

1st National Conference about culture and work (COB) (6 tapes, 1985)

1st National Meeting about culture and work (9 tapes, 1985)

1st COB’s Expanded National Congress about culture(21 tapes, 1986)

COB’s Expanded National Congress about democratic recovery (11 tapes, 1982)

COB’s Expanded National Congress and Filemón Escobar reports. (9 tapes, 84)

COB’s Expanded National Congress (6 tapes, 1985)

COB’s Expanded National Congress (4 tapes, 1989)

COB’s Expanded National Congress (3 tapes, 1988)

Teachers Congresses

Federation ofRural and Urban TeachersNational Congress (political ideology and principles statement) (9 tapes, 1988)

La Paz’s Federation ofUrban TeachersNational Congress (10 tapes, 1989)

National Conference ofUrban EducationWorkers about economic crisis in Bolivia (12 tapes, 1987)

Expanded National Congress of the Education Workers about the new law of education (6 tapes, 1988)

Artisans Congresses

Popular Artisans Second Departamental Congress (8 tapes)

Expanded National Congress of Bolivia’s Artisans Confederation (9 tapes)

Indigenous Movements Congresses

Expanded National Congress of the aymara, quechua and tupiguarani nation (9 tapes, 1990)

Expanded Congress of the AylluChullpa about mines nationalization (19 tapes, 1987)

1st National Congress of Native Authorities (2 tapes, 1986)

Indian Nacionalities Assembly about trade union crisis, nation and nationality (8 tapes, 1989)

1st Native Nations Assembly (14 tapes, 1992)

X National Assembly of indian people from Chaco and Amazonia ( 15 tapes, 1994)

Cocaleros(Coca producers) Congresses

1stExpanded National Congress of Bolivia’s Coca Producers (54 tapes, 1988)

Left Political Parties Congresses

Expanded National Congress of the Socialist Party (PS-1) about ideology (6 tapes, 1990)

1st Expanded National Congress of the Left and Revolutionary Movement (MIR) (9 tapes, 1987).

2) Voices of leaders and intellectuals

On the otherhand, wehavetapeslinked to different academic events, forums, television programs, meetings and seminars relatedto the following aspects:

Agrarian reform (its progress and limitations) and the economic realityof agriculture andthe peasantry (72 tapes, 1982-1990)

Worker controls and political co-management and self –management of the trade union movement after democratic recovery (31 tapes, 1983)

Workers movement and economic crisis (90 tapes from 1982 to 1985)

History of the mining world:cooperativism, crisis of the Bolivia’s Mining Corporation and the relocated miners problem (144 tapes from 1985 to1990)

Indigenism, peasant struggles, colonialism and social class (18 tapes of the period1988-1994)

Multiculturalismand acknowledgment ofindigenouspeoples and its territories (94 tapes from 1988 to 1994)

Crisis ofunionismandworking classformation (49 tapes, 1987)

Political parties, nationalismandpeasantry (48 tapes from 1986 to 1988)

Finally, we have included other tapes on national and cultural diversity on the consequences of rural-urban migration, the economic production and development, on temporary work, onthe building of an indigenous ideology, on discussion on colonization and colonialism, and other forms of oppression such as patriarchy and paternalism as well as actions and projects of the Bolivia´sworkers and indigenouspolitical parties.