Macalester College DigitalCommons@Macalester College Political Science Honors Projects Political Science Department Spring 4-25-2018 Coca, Capitalism and Decolonization: State Violence in Bolivia through Coca Policy Margaret A. Poulos
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/poli_honors Part of the International Relations Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Political Theory Commons, Public Policy Commons, and the Social Welfare Commons Recommended Citation Poulos, Margaret A., "Coca, Capitalism and Decolonization: State Violence in Bolivia through Coca Policy" (2018). Political Science Honors Projects. 78. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/poli_honors/78 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science Department at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Macalester College Coca, Capitalism and Decolonization: State Violence in Bolivia through Coca Policy Margaret Poulos Honors Thesis Advised by Professor David Blaney, Ph.D. Political Science Department April 2018 1 Abstract I approach Bolivian coca policy under Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous President, as a site to examine the broader issue of decolonization. My paper argues that the new General Law of Coca, passed in March 2017, is part of a larger systemic pattern of violence towards historically disenfranchised communities in Bolivia, despite Morales’ indigenous Aymara identity and pro-coca activism. Drawing on interviews I conducted and a postcolonial theoretical framework, I analyze how although Morales has rhetorically advocated for indigenous communities and decolonizing Bolivia, colonial legacies supplanted in the subjectivity of Bolivians and institutions of its government have persisted.