I officially have one month left of school in Costa Rica. While I have been able to endure the daily joys of undergraduate hormones rushing about, I have also managed to learn quite a bit about social movements and Costa Rica. Which for me, the most most poignant moment occurs when pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together and information relates to my experience within society. After all, the study of the social quagmire is impossibly reflexive. In the field of sociology we often study about centers and peripheries. In the most simple sense of this concept, the center is the dominant power, the periphery can be seen as a reflection or a diluted copy of the original. However, this relationship can also be understood as one of control and dominance, in that the discourse of the center is so powerful that it drowns out the voice of the subjugated group. In fact, this is exactly what Patricia Hill Collins was talking about when she looked at male centered forms of knowing through a feminist methodology.

Specifically speaking, looking at ideas using feminist theory forces us to examine the social construction of knowledge, from a male dominated viewpoint. Men have always had the power, they created the discourse, which created the knowledge that we accept as true. Therefore the way we understand the world is through mens eyes.
Hill Collins uses the feminist methodology to understand what she called the matrix of domination, the foundation for Black Feminist thought. Not only are women all over the world oppressed on account of their position on the periphery, but Black women are subjugated twice, because of their oppression as people of color. In Costa Rica, Ticos have, like all countries, their own system for sorting class, race, color, appearance, intelligence etc. However, as a nation, they are peripheral to the dominant cultural and mass media machines of the Western World. This is yet another point within the matrix of domination. However, rather than discussing the personal implications, on a social scale, Costa Rica has adopted cultures and personality that often reflects the mainstream, dominant and current leader in the world race, but in a diluted way. Globalization creates and destroys, but is unavoidable as we all live within the capitalist system (thanks Marx for reminding us). However bulldozing by dominant cultures is dangerous and we should all be aware of the voice coming from the periphery, It may be difficult to hear, but can provide valuable and perhaps better knowledge that has been subjugated from centuries of capitalistic competition.

In my Sociology of Development class here at the University of Costa Rica, we studied North and South Korea as development idols, The Asian Dragons, as they are often called. In the 50's Raul Prebisch and CEPAL, or ECLAC in English, developed a plan to bring Latin America out of the drudgery of sub-development, though a program called Industrialization through Import Substitution. This import substitution strategy was to follow 5 steps that brought Latin America into competition with the world market, by increasing its technological industrialization. In this way, the countries of Latin America could supply themselves with household goods like radios, and eventually more advanced products, without relying only on the export of primary goods, and the import of technology.


The problem with this strategy is it didn't work. Latin America moved on to structure their economy on Dependency theory of Theotonio Dos Santos and Gunder Frank, by becoming more socialist and attempting to remove themselves from the world market altogether.

All the while however, the Asian Dragons were applying Import Substitution strategies, and having great success. The problem was not the theory, it was its application along with historical and cultural idiosyncrasies. The point is, the Asian Dragons have improved the quality of life for their people, increased their GDP, and become a major competitor in the world marker, as well as having strong investment power.

But apparently, this has caused intellectual pressure on Koreans, and they want to kill themselves. In fact, so many are considering, or researching the possibilities, that the government is taking steps to make discussion, or the aiding of suicide illegal. The International Herald Tribune has a great article about this phenomenon, that inspired this post. One of the measures the government is taking is making posts about suicide illegal, erasing them or arresting people who aid or want to kill themselves, with or without the company of others.


I have never known anyone who has killed themselves and hope to never have the experience. I can say though, losing a loved one is the most awful thing to happen, and can destroy a part of you. However, I don't agree with the grand theory that each person's life is precious and should be protected, managed, or legally bound to life. What I believe is that everyone else's is to be respected, but yours belongs to you, not the government and not your family. In Korea, advertisements argue suicide on the grounds that your life is important to your family. I agree, and I want to keep my family around living with me too. However, ultimately, one's life is one's own, and for the entire stretch of it, your life is yours, and you have to be with you, not your family.

I hate to see more and more freedoms dissolved as we march towards heavy government control over our own bodies. Even the US, a country where we are free to express ourselves and supposedly have the right to happiness, we are not allowed to end our lives. In Korea, maybe the lives and bodies of Koreans belong to the government, so they can maintain high economic status, and if that is the case, that, is what the government should say in those ads.

Do utility companies have best practices? Are Latin American utlity companies simply reflections of the best practices of large North American conglomerates or are they just large North American conglomerates? In Costa Rica we have ICE, our public utility company. In 2000, the government wanted to open up to foreign competition, but the people had large and violent (only for Costa Rica) huelgas y marchas to protest the Combo de Ice.

We had a large gas fire the other day at a gas plant. It was one of 6 in Costa Rica. This may affect the supply of gas within the country. It took quite a bit of water to put out that fire. We are in a drought which has affected out electrical supply on account of the hydroelectric systems. But we had to use extra water to put out the fire. So now we have a water, gas and electricity shortage. Everyday the electricity goes out for some prescribed time. However, it is sometimes according to plan and sometimes not. Ahhh...the pleasures of third world living. And they say that there are more North Americans here per capita then any other country outside North America. Must have been all those fancy tourism brochures, because it sure isn't that safe down here.