In a recent podcast by “The Guardian” a reporter explores the cultural conflicts that arise when western societies, especially America, tries to impose their beliefs in other countries. In this case, Bolivia is a country where the minimum working age in 10, when the age was increased to 14, the streets were swarmed with children workers protesting for the age to be lowered. This made news, and it made Bolivians seems as if they did not care for their children, but this is because there is a cultural dilemma. Many western societies have a universalist approach to problems, mainly the law is the law and there is no exception. Bolivia for example is more of a particularistic society, where decisions are made based on context. In this case of child labor, Bolivian law differentiates between “child labor” and “child exploitation.” The government is able to see that some children who are as young as six need to work in order to help their parents financially. There is also the dilemma that American society is individualistic while Latin American societies are communal. 

            As I look at this dilemma, it’s clear that it’s because there is misunderstanding from a western society about what child labor means to Latin Americans. Bolivians come from an Andean society in which “since very young the children worked with their parents in the fields” (Stewart, 2017) so what we call child labor, is something that has existed in their society for centuries. There was a sense of value of work instilled in the children, and that continues to be true today. This is such a contrast with American Society in which “there are children in the first world that have never worked…they expect everything to be given to them... These are two completely opposing ways of looking at things” (Stewart, 2017). This is the reality of conflicting views between a universalist individualistic society and a Latin American society which is communal and particularistic. 

            It’s so easy to watch the news, read the newspaper, or listen to a podcast about a current event happening somewhere in the world and think people there are horrible. I can imagine an American reading about Bolivian child labor and think all Bolivians are horrible parents, but that is the problem with Americans, we are in general ethnocentric. My approach to resolving these dilemmas is to dive into the culture and understand the concept in which these things are happening. Many things that we deem as human rights violations from an American perspective, might not be true in other countries. We need to have self-awareness and see how our personal biases project unto other cultures. 

References

Stewart, Kary (Interviewer). (2017, February 24). Is Child Labour Always Wrong? The View from Bolivia [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/feb/24/is-child-labour-always-wrong-the-view-from-bolivia-podcast-transcript