A very welcome addition to the “new social history from below!” This book plots the vital role that militant “campesino” actors played in transforming Cochabamba’s local political culture in their own agrarian/leftist image. Through oral testimony, vivid ethnography, and close textual interpretation, Gordillo unsilences the voices of his historical protagonists and opens a window into their quotidian “lived experiences,” attitudes, and aspirations during two decades of wrenching political change. In short, the author creatively restores peasant agency to the center of the narrative and, from that vantage point, reappraises the revolution’s powerful impact on the course of modern Bolivian history.
—Brooke Larson, Stony Brook University
Authors
- Pages
- 338
- Published in
- Calgary, CA
Table of Contents
- Front Cover 1
- Half Title Page 2
- Series Page 3
- Full Title Page 4
- Copyright Page 5
- Dedication 6
- Contents 8
- Illustrations 10
- Abbreviations 12
- Preface 14
- Introduction 16
- 1 | Cochabamba: Bolivia’s Breadbasket 34
- Inca Rule and European Expansion 38
- The Colonial Order 41
- The Colonial Legacy in Early Bolivia 47
- Liberalism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 48
- Populism at Mid-Twentieth Century 50
- Comunarios and Campesinos as Dynamic Political Actors 52
- Altiplano Uprisings: Ayopaya 54
- Valley Political Struggles: Ucureña 62
- Conclusion 68
- 2 | Peasant Struggles for Unionization and Land (1952–53) 72
- Two Conflicting Projects inside the MNR 75
- Early Peasant Political Struggles in Cochabamba 77
- Peasants in the Altiplano 77
- Peasants in the Valley 81
- Peasant Movements Disrupt Cochabamba Politics 86
- Radical Peasant Revolutionaries in the Valley 97
- Discursive Polyphony: Landlords, Peasants, and the MNR 115
- Conclusion 126
- 3 | The Agrarian Reform and the State’s Discursive Dominion (1954–58) 130
- Peasants and the Left-Wing Populist Paradigm 132
- Class Conflicts in the Land Distribution Process 139
- Ethnic Conflicts in the Land Distribution Process 145
- Peasant Unionism Faces Re-adaptation to Revolutionary State Policies 151
- Peasant ‘Troscobites’ and ‘Progressive’ Landlords 160
- Vecinos versus Campesinos Clash in the Highlands 163
- Hegemonic Discourse: The Peasants and the MNR 175
- Conclusion 184
- 4 | Peasant Wars and Political Autonomy (1959–64) 186
- The Struggle for Power and the Role of Peasant Unionism 189
- The Champa Guerra in Cochabamba 196
- The Cold War and the Policy of Terror in Cochabamba 203
- The Political Stage Returns to the City 217
- Old Discourses and New Actors: Peasants, MNR Politicians, and the Military 223
- Conclusion 238
- 5 | Living the Revolution and Crafting New Identities 242
- Authority, Power, and Gender in Peasant Society 244
- Chicha and Peasant Violence 257
- Ethnicity and Territoriality in the Valleys 265
- Campesino Political Experience in Cochabamba 272
- Conclusion 279
- Conclusion 282
- Mestizaje and Popular Resistance 283
- Revolutionary Campesino Politics 286
- Revolutionary Campesino Identity 292
- A Revolution After the Revolution? 296
- Notes 302
- Notes to Introduction 302
- Notes to Chapter 1 305
- Notes to Chapter 2 308
- Notes to Chapter 3 313
- Notes to Chapter 4 317
- Notes to Chapter 5 322
- Notes to Conclusion 325
- Glossary 328
- Bibliography 332
- Archival Sources 332
- Government Reports & Documents 332
- Newspapers & Periodicals 332
- Interviews 333
- Other Sources 333
- Index 344
- Back Cover 354
