Ethnopolitics Papers January 2013 | No. 22 The Constructions and Reconstructions of an Identity An Examination of the Regional Autonomy Movement in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Anaïd Flesken Researcher | Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies, University of Exeter, UK E-mail address for correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract In Bolivia, the well-known indigenous mobilizations of the last decade have given rise to the mobi- lization of a regional opposition, particularly in the south-eastern department of Santa Cruz. The regionalist autonomy movement not only opposes the nationalization of the country’s natural re- sources – of which the largest share is located in the south-east – but also indigenous autonomy for fear of a de facto discrimination of non-indigenous Bolivians. In its discourse, the movement draws on the construction of regional identities that are increasingly contrasted with indigeneity and implicitly, or even explicitly, racist. This paper examines this lesser-known movement and its construction and reconstruction of the Cruceño identity category in Santa Cruz over time. Follow- ing a short overview of the economic, political, and demographic situation in Santa Cruz, this pa- per covers the construction of identity categories from Santa Cruz’ colonization in the sixteenth century until the end of the twentieth century. It then presents and analyzes the events and dis- courses of the protest cycle between 2000 and 2005 from the perspective of Santa Cruz and exam- ines the departmental elites’ struggle against the new constitution and the discourses and actions filed in support. The conclusion discusses the developments, focusing particularly on the contesta- tion of identity categories and their relation to the Bolivian nation as a whole.