The Global Sociology Blog

Via the BBC,

“The UN’s International Narcotics Control Board has called on Bolivia to ban coca chewing, and the use of the plant in products such as tea.

Bolivia says such a ban would be an attack on its culture.

Analysts say much of Bolivia’s coca harvest goes into cocaine, making it the world’s third-largest producer.”

In three short sentence, the BBC lays out a big problem and different ways of looking at it and raises the common dilemma of multiculturalism: if something is done in the name of culture and tradition, is it automatically out of bounds to criticize it?

Sociologist Anthony Giddens (2000:58) reminds us of one central fact:

“All traditions are invented traditions. No traditional societies were wholly traditional, and traditions and customs have been invented for a diversity of reasons. (…) Moreover, traditions always incorporate power, whether they are constructed in a deliberate way or not. Kings, emperors and priests and others have long invented traditions to suit themselves and legitimize their rule.”

In other words, when people invoke traditions, they imply certain things that are significant from a sociological point of view: (a) they refer to ideas and practices that apply to groups and collectivities. Traditions are always collective concepts; (b) they mean to strengthen power arrangements they feel are threatened by modernity; (c) they invoke tradition to defend practices that are questionable but that they do not want questioned.

That seems to be exactly what is happening here. Then, of course, along with traditions, the argument is often made that a given behavior is actually functional for the group and banning it would be harmful to society as a whole:

“Bolivians call coca “the sacred leaf”. They say it has been used by indigenous peoples for centuries to alleviate hunger and tiredness, for medicinal purposes and in religious rituals. UN conventions list coca as a dangerous substance, along with cocaine and opium. Last week, an annual report by the International Narcotics Control Board reminded Bolivia that coca leaves could legally be used for medical and scientific purposes only.”

Traditional practice versus the constraining institutions of modernity where behavior is deemed acceptable only insofar as it is compatible with modern medicine and scientific standard. It is not an easy dilemma to solve. The “anything cultural or traditional” attitude is unsustainable because then, oppressive practices can be justified. But in this case, one has to ask, where is the harm? What are the downsides of chewing coca for people who have always done it?

And then, there is an additional layer: isn’t coca and by extension cocaine a perfect illustration of a poor country’s comparative advantage? This is where the free market / free trade logic hits a wall. If there is a demand, and there is a strong demand for cocaine in core markets, shouldn’t the market provide the supply? Shouldn’t Bolivia benefit from it?

In the end, we will see what arguments are made on either side, but for now,

“Bolivian President Evo Morales has agreed to reduce the number of coca plantations, limiting production for “traditional” uses such as leaf chewing and tea.”

Photo Source: AP, from article.