Education and citizenship in Colombia

Vicente Oieni
Introduction
The major period for democracy's breakthrough in Latin America was, without a doubt,
that of the 80's. The fragility of this process, however, is undeniable. But even those
countries that didn't suffered dictatorial rule, e.g. Colombia governed by parliamentary
rule, shared the same problems of lame institutions, human rights violations and lack of
citizens' participation. In this country, a stable formal democracy coexists today with an
annual toll of thirty thousand assassinations. The official discourse is based upon the
principles of a liberal and pluralistic democracy; corruption, however, penetrates the
most subtle functions of the entire political system.
In Colombia, young citizens, who grow up knowing the official discourse by
heart, are confronted daily with distinct discourses which sometimes strengthen
democratic principles, but more often than not, weaken it.
Background
Very little research has been conducted on the theme of citizenship in the different fields
of social science. The works of Kning (1984, 1987, 1994), Anrup (1991, 1993,1995 a,
1995 b), Mrner (1993), Vogel (1991) and Chiaramonte (1989) are exceptions. All of
these were conducted from a historical perspective and studied different aspects on the
issue. It is with the same perspective in mind that I include a first tentative of
comparative analysis between Citizenship and National Identity. I am writing this work
in collaboration with Roland Anrup. The results of this research will be published during
the current year.
In the field of political sciences, the works of Lechner (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996);
Menendez-Carrin (1991) open new and promising perspectives. However, on the
relation between citizenship and education, and political socialisation, very little has been
done in Latin America and Colombia is not an exception.
This is the reason why we find this field of studies particularly interesting. We
happen to be convinced of the fact that neither stable institutions nor respect for Human
Rights will ever exist without the citizens' active participation in political processes.
General objectives
The objective of the present project is to analyse the role played, in Colombia, by the
formal education of children and young people in promoting their sense of citizenship.
Our choice to focus on education resulted from the fact that education, as a rule,
reflects the main projects prevailing in society.
We began by submitting the obvious fact that, not only the public realm
represented by the school, but also that of the family and of various civil institutions,
played equally important parts in promoting the sense of citizenship. Official discourse
sometimes meets support, sometimes opposition. Our main objective will be to pinpoint
this interplay of forces and tensions, as well as to describe the process by which they
permeate formal education as a whole.
Proposed issues and perspectives of analysis
The importance of citizenship as an institution
Our study will deal with the historical roots of the institution of citizenship. We are
convinced that this is an indispensable aspect inasmuch as it provides us with an insight
into the gradual formation of the concept of citizenship from the very beginning of the
nation's existence.

Citizenship and national identity1

The modern nation-states of Latin America were all grounded upon the idea of a
community of citizens. Citizenship and nation are but two opposite faces of one and the
same coin. The modern institution of citizenship, which dates back to the French
Revolution, is based upon the administration, by the State's representative organs, and of
the rights and obligations of the individual. The idea of citizenship played a revolutionary
role during, and immediately after, the process of independence in the construction of a
national identity. However, it had been introduced by an lite "from above". This, in turn,
explains why it favoured this very class, as well as other urban sectors while ignoring
vast sectors of the population.
Citizenship and constitutional order in Colombia
The XIXth Century. Constitutions based upon the liberal idea of citizenship were drawn
immediately after the achievement of Independence. In spite of it, various degrees of
restrictions to the franchise (related to sex, income and education), succeeded in
reducing citizenship to a mere symbol, more or less formal, used by the lite to justify
their de facto domination. In the case of Colombia, apart from the liberal constitutions of
1863-1885, authoritarian constitutional regimes were clearly predominant. This trend
reached its summit with the approval of the constitution of 1886.
The XXth Century. The 1886's constitution prevailed from 1886 to 1989. It was
characteristically conservative, centralist, clearly dominated by a powerful Catholic
presidency. A civic concept, based in fact on obedience to authority, was established by
this constitution.
During this troubled period, the return of the Liberals in 1934, the period called
The Violence, the formation of the National Front, the rise of guerrilla warfare and the
mobilisation of certain groups of citizens in defence of their civil rights, constituted
historical landmarks, with social and political conflicts intensifying in the eighties. One of
the consequences of all this was the election of a constitutional assembly leading to the
final enactment of the Constitution of 1991.
Critical survey of the idea of citizenship.
The de-centring of the subject
The central position of the subject is, for the first time, being questioned in modern
culture. This idea was originated between the Renaissance period and the so-called
period of enlightenment and inspired the political discourse of the French Revolution
which, in turn, declared the individual (male) supreme and independent. In accordance
with the philosophy of the time, he occupies a central position, universally valid. This
was politically confirmed by means of a law recognising his rights and obligations as
universal by assimilating them to those of the nation as a whole. The "Dclaration des
Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen" was the de facto accreditation of the modern subject
as such.
The emergence of social sciences and of new social movements has spurred new
attempts at de-centring the subject. This was, in fact, partly achieved by the combined
effects of Marxism during the last century, psychoanalysis, linguistics, the theory of
discourse and feminism during the present century.2 Consequently, the subject was left
without his former nuclear centre; the latter having undergone major positional
modifications entailing a multiplicity of articulations. Thus bringing about a new idea for
the formation of identities.
This idea of the formation of identities enlightens the interpretation of the recent
social movements related to gender, nationality, and ethnicity. The recurrent overlapping
of these various components/identities is a characteristic of these movements.

Towards a new idea of citizenship

The recognition of the validity "of the principles of liberty and equality, aims at
constructing a 'we', a chain of equivalence among their demands so as to articulate them
through the principle of democratic equivalence", is indispensable to the existence of new
quality type of citizenship.3 This is, by no means, an attempt at reducing various types of
identities to one and only, but a desire to transform citizenship into "a problematic that
conceives of the social agent not as a unitary subject but as the articulation of an
ensemble of subject positions, constructed within specific discourses and always
precariously and temporarily sutured at the intersection of those subject positions."4
Socialisation process and citizenship formation
Political socialisation is particularly difficult to define, inasmuch "apprenticeship" process
is closely subjected to political contingencies and because no more than a fraction of the
process is assumed by school education. Given the idea that political socialisation aims
at inducing a child or a youth to accept an institutional order and to conform to its
norms, the number of socialisation processes can be equal to that of existing political
models.
We will concentrate on the various aspects of the political character of political
socialisation in Colombia. In particularly the transmission of discourses on citizenship
within the formal education system. We will study this transmission within the larger
context of socialisation and then analyse the different components of political culture
transmitted by the schools.
Violence and daily life
There is not to deny the fact that violence is a component of social life in Colombia, nor
that this factor has a great influential impact upon children and young people at different
levels of their lives. Violence thus exists as a phenomenon of daily life. We have
incorporated a socio-cultural analysis from the project Violence in the Andean Region
since this project reveals the main features of the context in which future Colombians are
formed.5 Let us mention the following aspects of the daily life issue:
"Family, domestic relations, their socialisation mechanisms and their part in social
development.
School and its part in the formations of people and citizens.
Authoritarianism, both in society as a whole (political relations and in civil society), and
in family and personal life. (...)
Social silence, understood as a 'silencing culture'. This has to do with: authoritarianism in
socialisation (family, school, etc.); the non-representation to which certain social sectors
are subjected (in media, for example) and with political non-representation (verticallystructured political parties, relation between public and representatives, etc.).
Drug trafficking: Drug trafficking has became a central problem in all the Andean
countries, although with different characteristics in each.
The media: The media transmit social images and relate in various ways to violence."6
Political culture, education and discourse of citizenship.
We understand the political activity as the means by which contending groups and
individuals try to make agreements, solve their differences, defend their interests and
fulfil their goals. In this sense, political culture is a assortment of discourses and symbolic
practices trough which political interests are claimed legitimaly or not. It is also through
political activity that individuals and groups define their identities and community
boundaries are shaped.7

The citizen's education is thus achieved by means of a system of discourses which

are transmitted to him formally as well as informally. The young man /woman is the
recipient of a discourse which we will qualify as "official" inasmuch as it is produced by
organs of the State under the form of a constitution, laws, rules, decrees, curriculum, and
so forth and so on. A minor part of this finds its way to the school system, the major part
circulates via other channels.
The discourse of citizenship prior to the Constitution of 1991
The citizen emerging from the constitution of 1886 is a male, considered as catholic and
bearer of all the "virtues" of the conservative ideology, which inspired a constitutional
text, the latter being no more than an attempt at reconciling scholasticism with liberalism
and democracy. Among the virtues of the constitutional text, the most highly praised are
patriotism, the love of God, and obedience to law and order. The major flow of this logic
lies without a doubt in its doctrinal admittance of a passive citizen endowed with full civil
rights, coupled with the rejection of the principle of equality in cases of political rights,
and in cases of exception, the pure and simple suspension of these rights. This
contradicts the constitutional respect for human and civil rights. This contradiction is
best explained by the fact that the constitution is not based upon the sovereignty of the
people but on that of the nation.
The discourse of citizenship in the constitution of 1991
The new constitution uses a great number of mechanisms in the hope of stimulating civil
participation. It increases the social dimension of citizenship, and integrates means of decentralisation. It disrupts the former balance of powers to the detriment of the executive,
studies environmental problems, and so forth, and so on. In other words, it modernises
the basic Chart. However, it maintains the state of exception (the force majeure clause)
which gives the executive the final say, in case of "internal trouble" (Article 213). In the
past, this very clause was used to implement a tyrannical order inasmuch as it supplied
the executive with the means of counteracting representative democracy and neutralising
Human Rights.
Formal education, one or several discourses?
Our initial statement points out that the school is by no means a neutral ground:
educators, teachers, principals and students should be considered as actors who, day in
and day out, enter and leave their schools, crossing the shifty line between public and
private realms, and in the process, bearing discourses which, more often than not, are
contradictory. The school is by no means immune to political and ideological conflicts
such as they occur in society as a whole. A great number of educators and teachers,
bearers of discourses distinct from the official one, or simply interpreters of this
discourse, are assassinated in Colombia. We shall endeavour to underline this tension.
The empirical basis of this research
During the first phase of our study we shall focus on primary and secondary school
levels. At the term of our evaluation, we shall determine whether or not both should be
included in our study or only the secondary level. We will restrict ourselves to schools
within urban areas, both state and private schools. These schools will be studied
according to their various social sectors.Education 'happens' at schools and outside the
school's arena. By 'school arena' I understand all the levels and actors that take part in
the process of learning, from decision makers in ministries to the students at the very
classroom level. I shall takeschool as the domain where officials intentions are manifest.
But school is also where other discourses are told, disputed, and where their echoes are
heard. The main focus will be on the analysis of the texts that contains, or "carry", those

discourses. A rough classification of the empirical field will be two "sided". One
represented by the official texts and the other by the actors or organisations that doesn't
belong to the "state", but which make their voices heard by their action at the school.
a) the official texts
The constitutional text as symbolic foundation
Every constitution aspires to become the symbol of "the public's general will". This can
be achieved by more or less democratic methods. All political forces revolve round the
established constitution, either because the latter provides them with legitimity, or
because it denies them or limits, this same legitimity. Thus, the constitutional text is at
the very centre of our study.
Other texts
Hereby, we refer to any text which can be classified somewhere between the
constitutional text and the school text, e.g.: laws, decrees, orders, directives,
communications between presidential and ministerial levels and instances responsible
for planning the curriculum.
School text
The expression "school text", within the frame of this research, qualifies any type of
communication whose recipient is a youth attending school and it is within the frames of
the curriculum. The bearers of this communication may be books of Citizenship
Education, History or Literature. Fiction and poetry, music, graphic arts, leaflets and
assignments will also be considered as such.
b) Other actors
Under the heading other actors I include any relevant actor who is a carrier of a
discourse which content are independent, or differ in some way in relation to the official.
It could be the case of discourses that deliberately try to be an alternative to the official,
in other words, to operate as a contra-discourse, or simply to give the official discourse a
radical interpretation, or simply to promote a more active and engage citizen. The only
discourses that will be considered, are those that directly and indirectly reach the school.
Examples of this kind of organisations are
i. CINEP (Centro de Informacin y Educacin Popular): The CINEP plays a
very significant role in Colombia, because they combine research projects with education
of teachers. They organise workshops and programmes of information about human
rights and political rights. It is also there where teacher's unions have a place to discuss
their activities and experiences. The CINEP, without doubts, reunite some of the main
actors involved in the education of citizens.
ii. Ciudadanos en formacin: is an organisation for civic education leaded by the
Mayor of Bogot, Antanas Mockus. Himself a university professor, whom became a
politician, and as such he is promoting the development of the sense of civil
responsibility trough participation in the community. This type of action represents a very
important case, because the exemplary character of the initiatives that Mockus promote.
I suspect that his example, can hardly be ignored at the school level. An additional reason
for analysing Mockus work is that it deliberately tend to break the division between the
public and the private realms
In our research programme Citizenship and Political Culture , Amparo
Menendez-Carrin has already made a point of the Mockus' action relevance. (1996)
What I want to explore is the reception by teachers, students and policy makers within
the area of education, of the "Mockus effect".

iii. Viva la Ciudadana: is an another example of collective action in search of the

strengthening of citizens rights. Born as a campaign in relation to the call of the National
Assembly in 1991 to produce the new constitution, it is today a very active organisation,
widespread over the main cities of the country. Its main activity is a pedagogic one and is
related to citizens rights, human rights, environmental problems, etc. Does it reach the
school this activity? If this is the case, how does it do it ? Which is the attitude of the
different actors involved in the education of children's in relation to Viva la Ciudadana?
iv. Teachers unions are very important voices, not only in the school but also in
society. The struggle for better salaries and social rights is not an easy one. An
undetermined number of teachers, members of the trade unions, are assassinated every
year. I plan to interview members of the two teacher's unions because their views are
crucial to the purposes of our study: FECODE (Federacin Colombiana de Educadores)
y ADE (Asociacin Distrital de Educacin)
v. The guerrilla plays a complex and contradictorial role in Colombias political
life. On one side, the violent means used by guerrilla movements, in practice, works as a
contra-discourse because its destaibilizing effects; on the other side guerrilla
organisations, claim for the accomplishment of the constitution, the highest symbol of the
nation and source of any legitimacy. How are this contradictorily discourses recepted in
the school sphere ?
Research methods
i. A review in-depth of the literature about citizenship, political culture and
political socialisation will be done in the first period. I will point out that, behind the
elaboration of this project, a preliminary examination on those topics has already been
done.
ii. A textual and contrastive analysis of the constitutional order prior to 1991,
with the present new constitution will be done. Trough the comparation of both models
of political order and citizenship ideal, I expect to find an explanation of the nature of the
ideal of citizenship that the new constitution attempts to promote.
iii. A textual analysis of the laws, plans and speeches concerning education of
citizens is necessary because those documents express the official discourse in its
instrumental moment.
iv. The analysis of the schools texts is central in this study, because they represent
the final moment in the vertical transmission of official discourse within the
frameworks of the school system
v. A previous reading of texts, both officials and not officials, are going to lay the
foundations of the in-depth interviews, both the structured and semistructured ones. That
will be done on a selection of representative actors. A contrastive examination of the
discourses contained in the interviews, would let me to have a better idea of the tensions
experienced in the education of citizens. After a first round of interviews it may be
necessary to deepen further on the views of particular actors, or on more specific
matters.
vi. A direct observation at classrooms level will be necessary in order to witness
the interplay between teachers and students. Interviews with the laters will be a way to
scrutinise the receptor side of the communication.
Research plan
1997:
First semester: I shall improve the theoretical framework, particularly the notions
of citizenship and politic culture. The interpretation of the constitutional and legal texts
will make necessary the study of notions related to constitutional matters and to the legal
system. Of the six months planed for field-study, included in the three years term, two

will be expended in this first semester. The idea is to take contact with the institution that
support my project in Colombia and discuss with them the whole plan, and get their
advise in matters of sources, the chosen actors and the tentative timing for each step.
Second semester: The main concepts of the theoretical framework must be
finished. The study of the constitutional text, as well as the related material collected in
Colombia, will be central in this semester. A report, and eventually an article about this
matters will be written.
1998
First semester: I shall prepare the second field- study in Colombia. This will be
aimed to collect data about teaching of civic education and related subjects (history,
literature). Interviews will be made at different levels inside the school system and
outside it. I will devote the rest of the semester to data processing and the first
formulation of a general hypothesis of the project.
Second semester: The hypothesis of the project will be examined at the light of
the theoretical basis previously formulated, and the later at the light of the processed
data. The conclusions of this process will lay as the basis for refining the theoretical
framework, as well as the search of a more precise information to reinforce the general
hypothesis.
1999
First semester: In a new field-study, I will try to complete the planed interviews
and collect the remaining data. A general and in-deep discussion with Colombian
students, on subject of citizenship and education, will be done. During the rest of the
semester I shall process the collected data
Second semester: Writing of the final version.
Project feasibility
The successful accomplishment of this project is assured by the applicant's long working
experience lecturing on Latin America, and by the thesis supervisor's, Roland Anrup,
research experience in relation to Colombia. In addition, this project has the support a
research in-process on citizenship carried by the solicitor and his supervisor, Roland
Anrup, to be published
Not less important is the fact that this project has been carefully planed. To start
with, it is part of a mayor research programme that the Iberoamerikanska institutet is
submitted, together with FLACSO-Chile, to Sida/SAREC.
Besides, I have got the support of the following institutions:
1. Consejeria de la presidencia in relation to the provision of governmental information.
It is a channel that is already working succesfully. (See letter)
2. CINEP CINEP can provide me a working place, I can also participate in the
seminaries and get support in relation to the contacts and collection of data. (see letter)
3. IEPRI, (Instituto de Estudios Politicos y Relaciones Institucionales) of the
Universidad Nacional. A personal contact between my supervisor Roland Anrup and the
director of the institute Mr. Gonzalo Sanchez Gomez, guarantees me the support of the
most prestigious Colombian research centre of political studies.
4. Viva la Ciudadana, has offered me their support. (see letter)
5. Colciencias, can facilatate me contacts with researchers and institutions. (see letter)
5. Other important contacts are already been done, i.e. with Antana Mockus and the
teacher's trade unions.

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Anrup, Roland
Nationell identitet och merdborgarskap vid en sydamerikansk republiks fdelse,
Gteborg, 1993
Anrup, Roland
Ordet och svrdet. Maktsymbolik och diskursiv kamp i columbiansk politik och
historia, Historisk tidskrift, Stockholm, 1995:1
Anrup, Roland
El Estado ecuatoriano decimonnico y el proceso de integracin nacional.
Procesos, Revista Ecuatoriana de
Historia N7, Quito, 1995
Anrup, Roland; Oieni, Vicente
Estudio comparativo de la introduccin de la ciudadana en Amrica Latina, (en
preparacin)
Baker, Keith Michael, Inventing the French Revolution: essay on French Political Culture
in tthe eighteenth
century, p. 4, Cambridge University Press, New York,
1990
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Formas de identidad en el Rio de la Plata luego de 1810.
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emestre de 1989
De Los Ros, Hctor
Violencia y Estado en Colombia, Revista Universidad de Antioquia, vol. LVIII,
Nmero 218, octubre/diciembre, Medelln, 1989
Garca Villegas, Mauricio
La Constitucin y su eficacia simblica, Revista Universidad de Antioquia, vol.
LX, Nmero 225, julio/septiembre, Medelln, 1991
Hall, Stuart,
The cuestion of cultural identity, in Modernity and its futures, Hall, Stuart, Held,
David, and Mc Grew, Tony, Polity Press and Open University, 1992
Johnston Conover, Pamela and Searing, Donald D.
Democracy, Citizenship and the Study of Politica Socialization
in Developing Democracy, SAGE, London, 1994
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Smbolos Nacionales y retrica poltica de la Independencia: el caso de Nueva
Granada en Inge Buisson (ed.) Problemas de la formacin del estado y de la
nacin en Hispanoamrica - Blau, Kln, 1984
Knig, Hans-Joachim
Metforas y smbolos de la legitimidad e identidad nacional en Nueva Granada
(1810-1830),Amrica dello stato coloniale allo stato nazione , vol. II,(ed.)
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Lechner, Norbert
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Econmica, Santiago, Chile, 1988
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El Ciudadano y lo Pblico, Leviatn, N43-44, Madrid, 1991
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La problemtica de la invocacin de la sociedad civil, Revista Foro, N 28,
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Mac Gregor, S.J., Felipe, E. (ed.),

Violence in the Andean Region, APEP, Lima, 1993

Meja, Marco Ral
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Nmero 232, abril/julio, Medelln, 1993
Menndez-Carrin, Amparo
Para repensar la cuestin de la gobernabilidad desde la ciudadana. Dilemas,
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Sociales. Segunda poca, Vol. 1, 1991, pp. 79-98
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marzo 1993, Mexico. The
original version was published in Feminist Theorize
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Region and State in Latin America, ch. 4 , The South Hopkins University
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Oieni, Vicente
Ciudadana, identidad nacional y orden constitucional en Colombia
Ph.D. proyect, Historiska institutionen, Gteborgs universitet, 1995
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Ch. 8: Citizenship in Schools, from The fundations of Citizenship, Harvester
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Turner, Bryan S. and Hamilton, Peter
Ciytizenship Critical Concepts, vol. 1,Rutledege, London, 1994
Pearse, Jenny
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Zuleta, Estanislao
Violencia y derechos humanos, Revista Universidad de Antioquia, vol. LIX,
Nmero 219, enero/marzo, Medelln, 1992

1 This point is extensively developed in : Oieni, V., "Ciudadana identidad nacional y

orden constitucional", (Ph.D. thesis-project) Historiska institutionen, Gteborg
universitet, 1995; also in Anrup, R. and Oieni, V., "Estudio comparativo de la
introduccin de la ciudadana en Amrica Latina" (draft); Anrup, R., "Nationell identitet
och medborgarskap vid en sydamerikansk republiks fdelse: en studie av begrepp och
representationformer", paper Gteborg universitet, 1992.
2 Hall, S., "The cuestion of cultural identity", in Hall, S., Held, D., and Mc Grew, T.,
Modernity and its futures, , Polity Press and Open University, 1992, pp. 285-290
3 Mouffe, C., "Democratic Citizenship and the Political Community", in Mouffe, C., ed.,
Dimentions of Radical Democracy, Pluralism, Citizenship, Community, Verso London,
1992, p. 236
4 ibid., p. 237
5 Mac Gregor, S.J., Felipe, E. (ed.), Violence in the Andean Region, APEP, Lima, 1993
6 ibid, pp. 132-133
7 Baker, K.M., Inventing the French Revolution: essay on French Political Culture in the
eighteenth century, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990, p. 4