A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Evolution of Indigenous Education Policies in Colombia and Mexico and the Struggles for Decolonization and Pluriversality

Abstract

This research on Indigenous educational policies (IEPs) in the postcolonial histories of Colombia and Mexico focuses on: 1) identifying key normative concepts encoded in IEPs adopted in national policymaking, 2) analyzing how the evolution of normative concepts relates to political tensions between state, Indigenous, and international actors, and 3) discussing how the evolution of IEPs expose achievements and obstacles to decolonial struggles to advance Indigenous rights and pluriversal knowledges. A critical discourse analysis of laws and regulations adopted between1820 and 2020 in Mexico and Colombia shows a gradual and conflictive recognition of cultural and political rights, most recently through normative concepts like bilingualism, biculturalism, interculturalism, autonomy, and self-determination. These discursive shifts have operated, however, against the backdrop of ongoing political struggles of Indigenous peoples to demand that nation-states implement the agreements and principles enacted. This history of IEPs thus illuminates continuing tensions between the semiotic and material conditions of Indigenous communities as well as emerging practices of resistance and organization that may carry implications for further policy development.