The politicization and organization of secondary school students in the city of Sucre 1950-1964

Abstract

The city of Sucre is located south of Bolivia and it is the capital city of the country. It was there that the first university was created in the seventeenth century, and the first Normal Teachers’ School during the early twentieth century. This has given the city a student atmosphere. Due to this situation, we consider the importance of conducting a study on the organization and politicization of secondary school students and their contribution to student movements during the period of the National Revolution. The time frame goes from 1950 to 1964, from a pre-revolutionary period to the end of the MNR’s revolutionary governments. From a theoretical point of view, the study of secondary student movements (MES) is framed, on one hand, in studies on the history of education and the socialization processes of adolescents and young people and, on the other hand, in social history studies. From this perspective, they can be analyzed either as a cultural process of insertion in a certain mass culture that implies a rebellion against an established society or, on the contrary, in the creation of a social group, capable of mobilizing with clearly defined social and political objectives. On the other hand, the secondary school student movements in the city of Sucre had great participation in strikes and marches, either in support of the university or to achieve objectives in their own favor. Since 1950, the political participation of secondary school students was more openly given by the action of different parties with their own ideologies.