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State characteristics
- structure of government associated with an officially recognized and “sovereign” territory
- Comprised of the executive, its bureaucracy and related institutions.
- Involved in taxation, allocation of rights,
- punishment, social services, etc.
- Active at municipal, regional and national levels.
- state is not the same as the government.
- Governments change but the state does not
- state is multifaceted by contradictory
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how do some subordinates see the state as a resource?
they see the state as the answer to all governing polices
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Government characteristics
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what is policies of governance?
- refers to legislation that affects the population. example: welfare program; taxation program; minimum wage; arresting suspected gang members, etc
- installing a new government leads to changes in state services
- change in legislation and laws affect the population because of the governments in place
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what is state practices?
- broader activities of the state over time (generally over the span of several different governments)
- Example: Having an Enclave Economy; Developing the Armed Forces budget around US funding and influence; using the Armed Forces against your own population (as opposed to just defending the borders, etc).
- significant changes in what the state does regardless of the government in power
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charactersitics of new social movements and examples in LA
- organized primarily at the residential and community level (as opposed to the workplace)
- not just about a working-class goal (like trade unions in a factory), but around broader social changes like gender equality, ecological problems, etc.
- organizing beyond a particular class
- example: water wars
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significance of Evo Morales government in Bolivia
- example: government didnt ask the people if they wanted to privatize the water
- Bechtel a foreign company owned the ground and rain water
- they required people to get a license to collect rain water. people actively collected to protest this and won.
- Evo:
- indigenous rights activists
- leader of Aymara
- opposed US attack on coca growers
- endorsed the water wars
- when he got elected he said he was going to nationalize gas in order for it to benefit bolivia
- technically he just increased the tax on it
- to nationalize means the state takes over the company
- he reversed what happened with neoliberal companies by taking back prvatized companies and nationalizing them
- rejected US free trade agreement
- evo's policies of governance were in favor of the poor, but will it be the same for the state after he leaves
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Esdras experience following 2009 coup, and how school teachers use the state as a resource
- teachers in honduras like the state, but just want changes in the way it is governed
- the state is not always so bad, but actually a good resource
- Esdras is a school director that decided to travel to nicaragua to support the president
- he did so secretively
- he had a responsibility to support mel zelaya and his policies to help the poor
- teachers view themselves as responsible to take action for the broader society
- school teachers represent state authorities enforcing practices necessary for their students such as (immunizations)
- school teachers are local intellectuals and represent state authority carrying out education
- teachers recognize they are part of the state responsible for creating citizens
- teachers protest regardless of the government in place, they are doing it in the name of the state
- teachers have a vested interest in the state because they see the possibilities of the way things could be
- they want the state to prioritize education and opportunities for youth
- Mercedes and esdres - looked for money for school building development. they looked to elites in government positions for help, but were denied. they turned to the sugar company for a donation. they gave them less than they wanted, but still a substantial amount. they wanted mercedes to sign a form showing their donations so that they could get a tax break
- instead the sugar company stated that they gave more in donations than they did
- mercedes refused to sign, but the company threatened to take back their money so she signed.
- during the grand opening of the school a press release was to happen and elites that refused to donate wanted to come, but mercedes solicited the help of police officers in order to keep politicians out.
- this is how state institutions are utized by school teachers.
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