Suchergebnisse

During the 1980s and 1990s public faith in democratic governance was undermined throughout the Andes by a number of factors, including the persistence of elite brokering and weak, unaccountable political parties. The entrance of social movements into the electoral process presented itself as an antidote to this problem. A comparative study of the relatively successful experience of Ecuador's Pachakutik movement and that of Bolivia in the 1980s, when members of the Katarista indigenous movement ultimately failed in their attempts to launch political parties, seeks to identify the factors that contribute to the success or failure of social movement parties and to test the idea that such parties can transform political institutions and practices in fledgling democracies. Theoretically the dissertation draws on and makes links between the social movements and political parties literatures. Data gathering involved primarily qualitative methods, including interviews, participant observation, and archival research. I argue that the contrasting outcomes between Ecuador and Bolivia can be traced to crucial differences in the historical evolution of each country's indigenous movements and, in particular, to the role the state played in fostering peasant organization. In so doing, I build on Douglass North's concept of path dependency and apply it to social movement organizational development. Somewhat surprisingly, I find that longer and more intensive state tutelage in Bolivia was associated later on with greater difficulty in developing viable social movement parties. In contrast, the more autonomous development of peasant and indigenous organizations in Ecuador, characterized by a historically more adversarial relationship with the state, resulted in stronger organizational structures, the growth of a pan-indigenous identity, and earlier success for a movement-based party, despite the smaller relative size of the indigenous population. In terms of social-movement parties' potential to contribute to democratic consolidation, a close analysis of Pachakutik's performance and organization demonstrates that these parties often develop qualitatively new models that can challenge clientelistic practices at the local level. However, this only becomes possible once they have developed key internal resources: (1) a unifying identity, (2) an autonomous democratic organizational structure, and (3) a track-record of addressing local needs

Indigenous peoples in Latin America are historically underrepresented in elected bodies. In 2009, Bolivia introduced a new mechanism for direct representation to counteract this systematic representation gap, securing 7 of 130 seats (5.4%) in the national parliament for indigenous peoples of the lowlands. The reform was part of a series of implementation conflicts related to a new vision of plurinational state-building, included in the new 2009 Constitution. Although most indigenous organizations were seeking a 'power-sharing' agreement with direct representation for all indigenous nations, the new government, led by President Evo Morales, successfully intervened in favor of a minority protection scheme. Furthermore, for the direct representatives, the room to maneuver left was severely limited, leaving little space to act on behalf of their minority constituencies. Curiously, this reduced version of direct representation is nonetheless the most advanced in Latin America. The Bolivian case provides important lessons on the 'de-monopolization' of political parties as a key factor in the effective representation of indigenous peoples in parliament, as well as on the importance of a goal-oriented design for electoral mechanisms focusing on substantive representation.

Is it possible to justify resource extractivism to provide progressive welfare politics and still respect the constitutional rights of nature? The Indigenous concept of Sumak Kawsay on human beings living in harmony with each other and the environment is the fundamental framing of the new constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia. These constitutional reforms embrace strengthened proper rights of nature and similarly of ethnic rights. However, the same constitutions grant the State the right to exploit and commercialize natural resources and extractivism has increased. This study revises the tensions between welfare politics, extractivism and the rights of nature and the Indigenous peoples in the new constitutional settings of Bolivia and, particularly, Ecuador. The article argues that Sumak Kawsay challenges dominating understandings of theconcepts of welfare, common good and development, and likewise that a pragmatic approach is applied by national governments towards the constitutional rights of nature amidst other human values. ; Rights of Nature- Nature of Rights. Neo-Constitutionalism and Ethno-Ecologist Resistance in Bolivia and Ecuador, support by FORMAS (Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning) for the period 2013-2016.

Modernity has helped to popularize, and at the same time threaten, indigeneity. Anthropologists question both the validity of the concept of indigeneity and the wisdom of employing it as a political tool, but they are reluctant to deny it to local communities, whose use of the concept has become subject to study. The concept of indigenous knowledge is similarly faulted in favor of the hybrid products of modernity, and the idea of indigenous environmental knowledge and conservation is heatedly contested. Possibilities for alternate environmentalisms, and the combining of conservation and development goals, are being debated and tested in integrated conservation and development projects and extractive reserves. Anthropological understanding of both state and community agency is being rethought, and new approaches to the study of collaboration, indigenous rights movements, and violence are being developed. These and other current topics of interest involving indigenous peoples challenge anthropological theory as well as ethics and suggest the importance of analyzing the contradictions inherent in the coevolution of science, society, and environment.

In 2005, Bolivians elected their first indigenous president, Evo Morales. Ushering in a new "democratic cultural revolution," Morales promised to overturn neoliberalism and inaugurate a new decolonized society. In this perceptive new book, Nancy Postero examines the successes and failures that have followed in the ten years since Morales's election. While the Morales government has made many changes that have benefited Bolivia's majority indigenous population, it has also consolidated power and reinforced extractivist development models. In the process, indigeneity has been transformed from a site of emancipatory politics to a site of liberal nationstate building. By carefully tracing the political origins and practices of decolonization among activists, government administrators, and ordinary citizens, Postero makes an important contribution to our understanding of the meaning and impact of Bolivia's indigenous state.

Is it possible to justify resource extractivism to provide progressive welfare politics and still respect the constitutional rights of nature? The Indigenous concept of Sumak Kawsay on human beings living in harmony with each other and the environment is the fundamental framing of the new constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia. These constitutional reforms embrace strengthened proper rights of nature and similarly of ethnic rights. However, the same constitutions grant the State the right to exploit and commercialize natural resources and extractivism has increased. This study revises the tensions between welfare politics, extractivism and the rights of nature and the Indigenous peoples in the new constitutional settings of Bolivia and, particularly, Ecuador. The article argues that Sumak Kawsay challenges dominating understandings of the concepts of welfare, common good and development, and likewise that a pragmatic approach is applied by national governments towards the constitutional rights of nature amidst other human values.

At his 2006 inauguration, Bolivia's President Evo Morales claimed a lineage that included Andean indigenous insurrectional struggles, Simón Bolívar's nationalism, and Che Guevara's socialism. He and his MAS party have been attempting to articulate three very different lines of struggle, focusing on indigenous rights, economic justice, and popular democracy. They mediate these contradictions by adopting a core agenda that might be called "indigenous nationalism." Comparison of the strategies of Morales and Vice President García Linera illuminates the productive tensions of different approaches to dealing with the violent counterrevolution from the eastern lowlands. Despite having to confront serious obstacles and multiple critiques, this "unstable confederation" appears to be holding, allowing the government to continue on its path to long-term change refounding the nation and decolonizing society.

Introduction: Neoliberal multiculturalism in Bolivia -- Regimes of race and citizenship -- An indigenous federation in boomtown Santa Cruz -- A crisis of leadership in Bella Flor -- Multiculturalism and the law of popular participation -- Forming neoliberal subjects : NGOs and "responsible" self-government -- Popular protagonism since 2000 -- Conclusion: Towards a post-multicultural Bolivia

In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the 2009 Constitution articulates a multidimensional conception of democracy, reflecting a legacy of social movement mobilizations that demanded political inclusion and propelled to power a president who self-identifies as Indigenous. Many anticipated that Bolivia could present a propitious environment for an invigorated and post-liberal democracy. This article evaluates the three dimensions of democracy enshrined in the Constitution – representative, participatory, and communitarian – with the aim of understanding the relationship among them. I focus on two important sites of democratic practice: the process of drafting and approving the Constitution, and the construction of "Indigenous autonomies"; that is, institutions of Indigenous self-government based on communitarian democracy. While Bolivian democracy is more stable and inclusive under the current government than under previous ones, this study finds that the expansion of sanctioned participatory and communitarian democratic processes has been limited vis-à-vis the hegemonic system of representation.

In 2005, Bolivians elected their first indigenous president, Evo Morales. Ushering in a new "democratic cultural revolution," Morales promised to overturn neoliberalism and inaugurate a new decolonized society. In this perceptive new book, Nancy Postero examines the successes and failures that have followed in the ten years since Morales's election. While the Morales government has made many changes that have benefited Bolivia's majority indigenous population, it has also consolidated power and reinforced extractivist development models. In the process, indigeneity has been transformed from a site of emancipatory politics to a site of liberal nationstate building. By carefully tracing the political origins and practices of decolonization among activists, government administrators, and ordinary citizens, Postero makes an important contribution to our understanding of the meaning and impact of Bolivia's indigenous state.

In 2005, Bolivians elected their first indigenous president, Evo Morales. Ushering in a new "democratic cultural revolution," Morales promised to overturn neoliberalism and inaugurate a new decolonized society. In this perceptive new book, Nancy Postero examines the successes and failures that have followed in the ten years since Morales's election. While the Morales government has made many changes that have benefited Bolivia's majority indigenous population, it has also consolidated power and reinforced extractivist development models. In the process, indigeneity has been transformed from a site of emancipatory politics to a site of liberal nationstate building. By carefully tracing the political origins and practices of decolonization among activists, government administrators, and ordinary citizens, Postero makes an important contribution to our understanding of the meaning and impact of Bolivia's indigenous state.