This study is concerned with the historical development and perpetuation of the leisure class in the Colombian society. The study is based on Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class. The main purpose of this study is to analyze in terms of the evolution of social institutions the problems that the Colombian society faces today. Spanish values and traditions are analyzed, as well as more recent values and modes of behavior adopted by the leisure class. Institutions such as the church, the educational, employment and political apparatus are analyzed in terms of how they contribute to the perpetuation of elites. This study concludes that as long as there is economic surplus in society, a leisure class will exist. The elites forming the leisure class may be displaced by counter-elites, which in turn will conform a new leisure class.

One of the most controversial figures in Colombian history is that of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, whose assassination of April 9, 1948, ended a twenty-year career in national politics.1 The Colombian writer-diplomat, Juan Lozano Y Lozano, has distinguished Gaitan as the man most responsible for creating a "new mood: in twentieth century Colombian politics.2 Essentially, this "new mood" is that of increased interest in national social problems which, during the lifetime of Gaitan, was accompanied by an increasing demand on the part of the masses for significant participation in the political processes of the nation. The paper is divided into three chapters. The first describes the setting for the initial political activity of Gaitan: the Colombian capital, Bogota. The second is a biographical study of Gaitan. The third examines the impact of Gaitan on Bogata during his term as mayor. An epilogue briefly discusses Gaitan after his mayoralty.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research assignment deals with the breakdown in the Clausewitzian concept of the modern trinitarian structure of war. Martin Van Creveld in his book entitled, “The Transformation of War” written in 1991, discusses ‘Future War’ and the way in which wars will be fought. It will not be the highly technical interstate kind of war the West has been preparing for, but rather low intensity conflict where the lines between state, soldier and civilian become blurred, society becomes a war zone and the conflict becomes a more direct experience for the people. Colombia is a prime example of where this is occurring and the most salient manifestation of the low intensity conflict is the blurring of the lines between war and crime. There are left wing guerrillas fighting for social justice for the dispossessed population, but their tactics resemble crime and the government views them as terrorists. They run a self-sufficient organisation, one of the most profitable insurgent groups in the world largely funded through kidnap ransom payments. The right-wing paramilitaries are on a quest to cleanse Colombian society of the guerrillas and assassinate suspected guerrilla sympathisers. To complicate issues, both insurgent groups are involved in the drug trafficking trade, whether it be directly or by way of taxing land on which coca is grown. In this situation, war and crime have become inextricably linked and a distinction between the two is impossible on both practical and conceptual levels. However, if it is not crime and it is not war, but a complicated melange of the two, a new framework for analysis is required in order to attempt a solution. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingsprojek gaan oor die ineenstorting van die Clausewitziaanse begrip van die moderne Trinitariese oorlogstruktuur. In sy boek, getiteld "The Transformation of War" wat in 1991 geskryf is, bespreek Martin van Creveld die 'toekomstige oorlog' en die wyse waarop oorloë gevoer staan te word. Dit sal nie die hoogs tegniese interstaatlike soort oorlog wees waarvoor die Weste hom voorberei nie, maar eerder 'n lae intensiteitskonflik waar die lyne tussen die staat, soldaat en burgerlike ineenvloei; die gemeenskap word 'n oorlogsone en die konflik word 'n direkte ervaring vir die bevolking. Kolombië is 'n goeie voorbeeld van waar dit besig is om plaas te vind en die mees kenmerkende manifestasie van die lae intenstiteitskonflik is die vervloeiing van die skeidslyne tussen oorlog en misdaad. Daar is linksgesinde guerrillas wat om sosiale geregtigheid veg namens die onteiende bevolking, maar hul taktiek kom voor soos misdaad; en die regering beskou hulle inderdaad as misdadigers. Hulle beheer 'n selfversorgende organisasie, een van die winsgewendste versetsgroepe in die wêreld wat tot 'n groot mate gefinansier word by wyse van ontvoering van mense, met die eis van lospryse vir vrybetaling. Die regsgesinde paramilitêre groepe is op 'n sending om die Kolombiaanse gemeenskap te suiwer van die guerrillas en bring vermeende guerrilla simpatiseerders om die lewe. Om sake te kompliseer, is albei opstandsgroepe betrokke in die dwelmsmokkelhandel, hetsy direk, of indirek by wyse van belasting op die grond waarop coca gekweek word. In hierdie situasie het oorlog en misdaad onteenseglik verweefd met mekaar geraak en is dit nie moontlik om enige onderskeid tussen hulle te tref op hetsy die praktiese of die konseptuele vlakke nie. Indien dit dan nie oorlog is nie en ook nie misdaad nie, maar wel 'n ingewikkelde verweefdheid van die twee, dan word 'n nuwe analitiese raamwerk vereis om te poog om 'n oplossing te vind.

L’objectif principal de cette thèse est l’analyse des configurations du lien social naissant au sein de systèmes alternatifs d’échange local, afin d’y retrouver la trace du « don maussien ».<p>L’enquête porte sur un échange de biens, parallèle à l’échange marchand et localement accompli dans le contexte d’un monde globalisé, perspective qui inscrit la recherche dans le champ de l’anthropologie économique des mondes contemporains.<p>Le phénomène de la mondialisation, associé au progrès des techniques de communication, permettant d’observer des procédés analogues, engendrés par des causes communes dans différentes parties du monde, le terrain, tel que défini ci-dessus, fut réalisé sur deux sites socio-culturellement différents puisque implantés en Colombie pour l’un, et en France, pour l’autre. Ces deux sites furent traités comme un seul terrain multi-local dont le croisement des données recueillies a enrichi l’analyse. <p>Avant de passer à la partie descriptive des ethnographies réalisées, le travail évoque des théories et des expériences antérieures qui ont permis de reconnaître la différence entre les expérimentations monétaires et les systèmes d’échange multilatéral ou dispositifs comptables centralisés employant une unité de compte pour faciliter les échanges. La production et la consommation sont stimulées par un type de monnaie qui joue un rôle complémentaire à la devise officielle et permet des transactions multilatérales. <p>Devant la diversité des systèmes alternatifs à l’échange marchand, un choix s’imposait pour déterminer ceux qui seraient l’objet de l’enquête de terrain. Les initiatives sélectionnées pour une observation directe furent les foires de multi-troc colombiennes et les systèmes d’échange local (SEL) français. <p>Les deux monographies décrivent le déroulement des investigations en Colombie et en France, ainsi que les constats qui s’imposèrent à leur issue.<p>Il apparaît qu’au-delà de la raison économique d’échanger biens et services sans se soumettre à l’usage de l’argent comme fin en soi, les adhérents à ces expériences de micro-économie y trouvent un milieu propice à cultiver de nouvelles relations sociales. Les raisons de participer sont multiples mais s’alignent souvent sur des valeurs communes telles que la confiance, l’entraide, le respect de l’autre, la tolérance ou la solidarité, autant de logiques qui font de ces groupements, des espaces de création de liens sociaux favorables à l’émergence du don moderne. Tel qu’il a été développé et actualisé par Jacques T. Godbout, Alain Caillé et les exposants du Mouvement Anti-Utilitariste dans les Sciences Sociales –M.A.U.S.S.- ./ABSTRACT <p>The main objective of this thesis is the analysis of configurations of the social link emerging within alternate systems of local exchange, in order to find traces of the “maussian gift”.<p>The investigation covers the exchange of property which is parallel to trade exchange and is locally accomplished in the context of a global world, a perspective which integrates our research within the field of economic anthropology of contemporary worlds.<p>The phenomenon of the globalization, coupled with advances in communication technology, allows us to observe similar processes around the world, engendered by common causes. The fieldwork, as mentioned above, was realized on two socio - culturally different sites, one in Colombia, the other one in France. These two sites were treated as a single multi-local fieldwork, and their combined information enriched our analysis. <p>Before proceeding to the descriptive part of the conducted ethnographic research, the document evokes theories and previous experiences which allowed us to recognize the difference between monetary experiments and multilateral trading systems or devices using a centralized accounting unit to facilitate the exchanges. The production and the consumption are stimulated by a type of exchange that is complementary to the official currency and allows multilateral transactions. <p>Considering the variety of alternative systems in the exchange market, a choice was necessary to determine, who would be the object of the fieldwork. The initiatives selected for direct observation were the Colombian multi-barter fairs and the French systems of local exchange (SEL).<p>Both monographs describe the progress of investigations in Colombia and in France, as well as the resulting reports. <p>It seems that, apart from the economic reason for exchanging goods and services without being subject to the use of money, which is an end in itself, those who take part in such experiences of microeconomics find a convenient environment to cultivate new social relationships.<p>The reasons for participating are numerous, but often aligned on common values such as trust, mutual aid, respect for the others, tolerance or solidarity, which all contribute to transform these gatherings into spaces mean to create social links favourable to the emergence of the modern gift. This theory was developed and updated by Jacques T. Godbout, Alain Caillé and the members of the Anti-Utilitarian Movement in Social Science -M.A.U.S.S.-. <p><p> / Doctorat en sciences sociales, Orientation anthropologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished