Bolivian identity: Between Reality and Illusion1

Abstract

This essay, which is the result of a thesis for a master’s program in Critical Theory at CIDES-UMSA, explores the problem of Bolivian national identity from sociological and psychological perspectives. It starts from the thesis that Bolivian nationality is an entelechy that serves to sedate the collective mentality, prone to disagreement and existential crisis. The issue intersects with issues of miscegenation, which in Bolivia have been at the heart of social and political conflicts for a long time. The essay is based on the ideas that some liberal philosophers such as Popper, Savater or Vargas Llosa have about the nation and nationality. In the end, an examination is made as to whether Bolivian nationality really exists on an objective level, or if it is the product only of the desire and subjectivity of Bolivians.