ABSTRACT
In systems terminology, the Aymara socioeconomic system, after four hundred years of morphostasis, is presently experiencing morphogenesis. It is undergoing a fundamental transformation that means a redefinition of the system’s once rigid and confining boundaries. Whereas negative feedback mechanisms kept the traditional system in a “steady state,” providing only the most minor adjustments possible to counter any inputs that had seeped through the tight sieve of the boundaries, now positive feedback is the order of the day. The breakdown of subsistence agriculture as a way of life resulted in such a severe breach in the traditional boundaries that change has already been manifested in virtually every major sector of the system. We have already examined changes in the economy, social structure, government, and religion. Before proceeding to predict where the system is heading, we need to examine a few more areas of change, in language, in the degree of “closedness” of the system, and in population.
