| Programs of modernization have generally been carried out through an alliance between elite groups and government agencies. For the municipality of Túquerres, in the southwestern Colombian Andes, modernization programs are part of a long history of projects promoting a “road of progress” for a region characterized as “backward.” Especially in recent years, a discourse of modernization has transcended the elite sphere. Contemporary residents of Túquerres refer to the present as a time of everything modern—todo moderno. However, their independent initiative to appropriate moderno items and attitudes often diverges from the standard modernization script. This appropriation challenges regnant hierarchies and dominant stigmas, while preserving the viability of small-plot agriculture and regional marketplaces. These alternative processes of modernization manifested as a critique of state modernization programs, an election campaign which challenged traditional political bosses, and as an invigoration of certain community institutions.; Research included an initial field visit in June–August 1994, extended fieldwork from July 1996–November 1997, and a brief re-visit in August 1998. The research techniques were the anthropological methods of intensive participant-observation in family settings to understand newly-introduced household technologies of gas ranges and stereos; observational days of agricultural production and marketing activities to provide material on regional economic activity; semi-structured interviews with large-scale farmers and government representatives to yield an official perspective on agriculture and politics; municipal archival research and secondary sources to complement the historical background of successive modernization projects in the community; attendance at political rallies and events to trace the mechanics of party formation and campaign rhetoric; a random-sample survey of 259 households in both the rural and urban areas of the municipality to gather a broad range of opinion and independent quantitative data.; The research results indicate that an alternative mode of modernization can become a powerful idiom for action. However, this mode does not represent a complete cosmology, but remains partial and contingent upon the programs of state modernization. The conclusion is that contemporary modernization plans and projects must take into account varying meanings and appropriations of modernization, outside the too-often polarized notions of elite modernization plans versus popular resistance. |
