Three Takes on De-Colonizing the State Apparatus in Bolivia

Authors

  • Chuck Sturtevant Davidson College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/bsj.2019.212

Keywords:

Bolivia, decolonization, Evo Morales, indigenous people, state apparatus

Abstract

This response summarizes and compares three scholars’ approaches (Marcelo Bohrt, Robert Albro and Pamela Calla) to the Morales administration’s efforts to decolonize the government of Bolivia. Seeking the common ground among them, I find that all three recognize the importance of symbolic and discursive changes, which have allowed some previously-excluded individuals to access positions of authority within the state apparatus. On the other hand, these changes have been uneven, exposing rifts between indigenous communities, exacerbating existing inequities, and establishing new or renewed hierarchies of subordination.  

 

Author Biography

Chuck Sturtevant, Davidson College

Visiting Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies

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Published

2020-05-11