El amawt’a Avelino Siñani and the formation of an indigenous intelligentsia in the context of educational reforms in Bolivia (1905-1940)

Abstract

The first decades of the 20th century were marked by a surge in interest in public education in Latin America. In the Bolivian case, despite the clear intention of the elites and much of the indigenous intellectual community to "civilize" the indigenous masses, educational projects also served as a way for these populations to fight for their historical demands, such as the resumption of communal control of their lands, which had been expropriated by the state and haciendas since the beginning of the Republic. Reflecting on these actions, we will use the concept of cosmopolitics to understand, based on the figure of the Aymara educator Avelino Siñani, how the educational reforms of this period were permeated by the work of indigenous teachers who conceived of education not only as an act of resistance but also as a vehicle for redefining the meaning of the Andean Ayllu. This reflection is evidenced in the experience of the Escuela-Ayllu de Warisata, led by Avelino Siñani and recognized as a benchmark for indigenous education in that period.