Plurinationalism

{{short description|Coexistence of two or more sealed or preserved national groups within a polity}} '''Plurinationality''', '''plurinational''', or '''plurinationalism''' is defined as the coexistence of two or more sealed or preserved national groups within a polity<ref name=Pluri/> (an organized community or body of peoples<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polity polity], dictionary.reference.com</ref>) in Latin America. In plurinationalism, the idea of nationality is plural, meaning there are many nationals within an organized community or body of peoples. Derived from this concept, a '''plurinational state''' is the existence of multiple political communities and constitutional asymmetry. The usage of plurinationality assists in avoiding the division of societies within a state or country. Furthermore, a '''plurinational democracy''' recognizes the multiple demoi (common people or populace)<ref name=FD>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Demoi demos], thefreedictionary.com</ref> within a polity.<ref name=Pluri>Keating, Michael. [http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofPoliticsInternationalStudiesandPhilosophy/FileStore/EuropeanisationFiles/Filetoupload,38424,en.pdf Plurinational Democracy in a Post-Sovereign Order] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924110558/http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofPoliticsInternationalStudiesandPhilosophy/FileStore/EuropeanisationFiles/Filetoupload,38424,en.pdf|date=2015-09-24 }}, Queen's Papers on Europeanisation No 1/2002</ref> Reportedly the term has its origin in the Indigenous political movement in Bolivia where it was first heard of in the early 1980s.<ref name=quarterly>{{Cite magazine|title=Chile Could Become "Plurinational." What Does That Mean?|date=2022-08-29|magazine=Americas Quarterly|url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/chile-could-become-plurinational-what-does-that-mean/|last=Burns|first=Nick|access-date=2022-09-03|publication-date=}}</ref> As of 2025, Bolivia and Ecuador are constitutionally defined as plurinational states.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Contentious Vote in Chile That Could Transform Indigenous Rights|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/world/americas/chile-constitution-vote-indigenous.html|last=Lankes|first=Ana|date=2022-09-02|access-date=2022-09-24|work=The New York Times}}</ref> Proposals for plurinationalism have also been heard in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

Plurinational states are similar to multinational states, but are particularly often advocated for by indigenous peoples.<ref name="Tremblay Gagnon 2023 pp. 141–153">{{cite book|last1=Tremblay|first1=Arjun|last2=Gagnon|first2=Alain-G.|title=Teaching Federalism|chapter=Multinational, multicultural, intercultural, and plurinational federalism|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|date=2023-01-03|isbn=978-1-80088-532-5|doi=10.4337/9781800885325.00021|pages=141–153}}</ref>

==Current== ===Bolivia=== [[File:New Plurinational Legislative Assembly Building (Aymara-Quechua Hallway, 01).jpg|thumb|Artwork in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly building, as seen in 2022]] In 2009, Bolivia adopted a constitution that renamed the country to the "Plurinational State of Bolivia",<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Irazábal|first=Clara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfcJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|title=Transbordering Latin Americas: Liminal Places, Cultures, and Powers (T)Here|date=2013-11-07|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-02239-6|language=en}}</ref> as spearheaded by Evo Morales.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=24 January 2020|title=Bolivians celebrate fourteen years of the Plurinational State|url=https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/24/bolivians-celebrate-fourteen-years-of-the-plurinational-state/|access-date=8 November 2024|work=Peoples Dispatch}}</ref> Formerly, it was called the "Republic of Bolivia".<ref name=":0"/> Later, in 2010, Morales proclaimed January 22nd to be "Plurinational State Day", an annual holiday; it coincides with the day Morales took power in 2006.<ref name=":1"/>

===Ecuador=== In September 2008, Rafael Correa introduced a new constitution that described Ecuador as a "Plurinational and Intercultural State".<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|date=25 February 2022|title=Latin America is moving towards Plurinationalism, slowly but definitely|url=https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/02/25/latin-america-is-moving-towards-plurinationalism-slowly-but-definitely/|access-date=8 November 2024|work=Peoples Dispatch}}</ref> The new constitution also recognized 11 indigenous groups within the country.<ref name=":2"/> The concept of Ecuador becoming a plurinational state was previously proposed in 1988.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sempértegui|first1=Andrea|last2=Báez|first2=Michelle|date=2024-05-03|title=Ontological Conflicts in the Plurinational State: The Case of Indigenous Resistance against the Mirador Mega-Mining Project in Ecuador|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08941920.2023.2228241|journal=Society & Natural Resources|language=en|volume=37|issue=5|pages=660–677|doi=10.1080/08941920.2023.2228241|bibcode=2024SNatR..37..660S|issn=0894-1920|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Proposed== ===Argentina=== Since 1986, Argentina has been home to an annual meeting for activists to discuss gender-based inequality.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Jaureguy|first=Martina|date=2023-10-14|title=Thousands are gathering in Bariloche this weekend. Here’s why|url=https://buenosairesherald.com/society/thousands-are-gathering-in-bariloche-this-weekend-heres-why|access-date=2025-05-13|website=Buenos Aires Herald|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2022, the name was changed from the "National Women's Meeting" to the "Plurinational Meeting" (though ''two'' events, one under each name, were held that year).<ref name=":4"/> In 2023, only the "Plurinational Meeting" was held, which was in the city of Bariloche.<ref name=":4"/>

===Chile=== thumb|Map of indigenous groups in Chile In Chile constitutional plurinationalism has been a topic of debate. Plurinationalism was not a concept in the constitutional reforms proposed by Michelle Bachelet's second government (2014–2018), yet the proposed reforms included recognition of Chile's indigenous peoples.<ref>{{Cite report|title=Análisis comparativo entre la Constitución vigente y el proyecto de reforma constitucional de Michelle Bachelet|date=2019-11-29|last=Soto Martínez|first=Víctor|volume=155-19|publisher=Library of Congress of Chile|language=Spanish}}</ref> The 2022 proposed Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile defined Chile as "plurinational", however this proposal was rejected by a large margin in September 2022.<ref name="quarterly"/><ref>{{cite news|author1=Vanessa Buschschlüter|title=Chile constitution: Voters overwhelmingly reject radical change|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-62792025|website=BBC News|date=5 September 2022|access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref> Prior to the dismissal of the proposed constitution the issue of pluranationalism was noted by polls and ''El País'' as particularly divisive in Chile.<ref>{{Cite news|title=El debate sobre el reconocimiento del "Estado plurinacional" divide a los chilenos|url=https://elpais.com/chile/2022-08-31/la-plurinacionalidad-de-la-nueva-constitucion-no-genera-consenso-entre-los-chilenos.html|last=Montes|first=Rocío|date=2022-08-31|access-date=2022-09-24|work=El País|language=Spanish}}</ref> The creation of a "plurinational region" in southern Chile has been proposed by some scholars and activists as a solution to the Mapuche conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=El nuevo ciclo de movilización mapuche en Chile: la emergencia de la CAM y el proyecto autonomista para una región plurinacional|journal=Araucaria. Revista Iberoamericana de Filosofía, Política y Humanidades|last1=Marimán|first1=José|issue=34|pages=279–301|last2=Valenzuela|first2=Esteban|year=2015|language=Spanish|trans-title=The new cycle of mapuche mobilization in Chile: the emergence of the CAM and the project for a plurinational autonomy region}}</ref>

Plurinationalism has been criticized by José Rodríguez Elizondo as being used to advance Bolivian claims against Chile for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diplomático José Rodríguez Elizondo teme que la plurinacionalidad sea funcional a la estrategia marítima boliviana|url=https://www.elmostrador.cl/destacado/2022/07/18/diplomatico-jose-rodriguez-elizondo-teme-que-la-plurinacionalidad-sea-funcional-a-la-estrategia-maritima-boliviana/|date=2022-07-18|access-date=2022-09-21|website=El Mostrador|last=Bruna|first=Roberto|language=es}}</ref>

===Costa Rica=== In August 2014, lawmakers in Costa Rica approved a first round vote for a bill that would describe the country as "multiethnic and plurinational" within the constitution of Costa Rica.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Times|first=The Tico|date=2014-08-28|title=Lawmakers vote to define Costa Rica as a multiethnic, plurinational country|url=https://ticotimes.net/2014/08/28/lawmakers-vote-to-define-costa-rica-as-a-multiethnic-plurinational-country|access-date=2025-05-13|website=The Tico Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Guatemala=== In Guatemala, plurinationalism has been championed by Comité de Desarrollo Campesino<ref name="quarterly"/> and the Maya Waqib’ Kej National Convergence.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|title=As Guatemalan Democracy Falters, Indigenous Communities Stand Their Ground|url=https://nacla.org/guatemalan-democracy-indigenous-plurinational|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212153935/https://nacla.org/guatemalan-democracy-indigenous-plurinational|archive-date=2024-12-12|access-date=2025-05-13|work=NACLA|language=en}}</ref> In the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the government of Guatemala committed to reforms to recognize the Maya peoples, the Garifuna, and the Xinca people<ref name=":3"/> and also reframe the country in the constitution of Guatemala as being "of national unity, multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual".<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 April 1995|title=Agreement on identity and rights of indigenous peoples|url=https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/default/files/document/files/2024/05/gt950331agreementidentityandrightsofindigenouspeoples.pdf|website=peacemaker.un.org}}</ref> No such reforms have ever happened to date.<ref name=":3"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *Pallares, Amalia. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MceiYzYfFjwC&dq=plurinationalism&pg=PA184 The Politics of Disruption], From Pluriculturalism to Plurinationalism, From peasant struggles to Indian resistance: the Ecuadorian Andes in the late twentieth century, University of Oklahoma Press, 2002, 272 pages *MacDonald, Jr., Theodore. [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:L7US06Y8ZPUJ:isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic228815.files/Week_14/EcuadorPaper_May_01_Final_and_Post.doc+plurinationalism&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi2A6gOW5awN2ekv5b4uGfaYCUMSbAwt12SLoXP7URKR0S_gvstXggGLhsX3UUpq-vCG14NWnJnQ7X71cBCmSyPWUNmoPeHeP87-K2gpV2W6zef_3rEXUFmtmPPuwKP2YJAfAk5&sig=AHIEtbTTyi_vrgPlZRfGwTh6iHtXRlogJQ Ecuador's Indian Movement: Pawn in a Short Game or Agent in State Reconfiguration?] *Masnou i Boixeda, Ramón. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lgWdly_C2mEC&dq=plurinationalism&pg=PA31 3. Recognition and Respect in Plurinationalism], Notes on Nationalism, Gracewing Publishing, 2002, 146 pages {{Nationalism}} Category:1980s neologisms Category:Cultural politics Category:Decentralization Category:Ethnicity in politics Category:Multiculturalism Category:Nationalism