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Undocumented Citizens Bla,Bla i UNDOCUMENTED CITIZENS IN THE AGE OF LEGIBILITY: INDIFFERENCE, EXCLUSION AND THE LIMITS OF THE STATE’S WILL TO KNOW Javier Crespan Hidalgo A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2018 Committee: Joel S. Migdal, Chairperson Michael W. McCann Anthony J. Gill Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Department of Political Science ii ©Copyright 2018 Javier Crespan Hidalgo iii University of Washington ABSTRACT Undocumented Citizens in the Age of Legibility: Indifference, Exclusion and the Limits of the State’s Will to Know Javier Crespan Hidalgo Supervisory Committee Chair: Professor Joel S. Migdal Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies While the lack of identity documents has been widely discussed in the context of international migration, political scientists have generally ignored the millions of undocumented people who have never crossed an international border. They are undocumented citizens, legal citizens of the countries in which they reside who do not possess the official documents necessary to adequately establish their personal identities. At times, those lacking documents keenly feel their second class status. In other instances, the undocumented do not perceive particular deprivation and consider identity documents dispensable. Similarly, modern states, which have been presented in the academic literature as determined to enumerate, record, and document their populations, sometimes demonstrate indifference to the fact that many of their citizens remain undocumented. How can we explain this double ambivalence? Why do some states pursue remarkably erratic iv policies that combine mandatory birth registration and identity cards with documentation systems that put them beyond the reach of many citizens? Why do citizens of the same country oftentimes differ in their desire to acquire documents? I argue in this dissertation that the academic literature tends to exaggerate the enthusiasm of the modern state for documenting individual identity. That in reality, many contemporary states show little interest in building comprehensive and reliable documentation systems. I argue, moreover, that when states decide to improve their documentation systems, it often has more to do with international trends, raising revenue, electoral considerations, or empowering historically marginalized groups, than with a drive to improve the ability to monitor and control the population. I also argue that, although issues of citizenship and rights inform the evolution of documentation policies, populations considered dangerous by the incumbent state are not necessarily the preferred target of its documentation efforts. Neither is the active resistance of these populations the main reason why their members sometimes display high undocumentation levels. Rather, confronted with states and citizenship regimes not built with them in mind, suspect populations frequently face high barriers to secure identity documents that offer them little in return in terms of access to rights and services. As a result, documentation can be for them a little-known obligation, an unintuitive choice, an unreasonable investment, and a hard to achieve goal. The empirical focus of my work will be on the South American nations of Peru and particularly Bolivia. However, the arguments I develop are likely to have theoretical purchase for the study of undocumentation in other countries as well. v DEDICATION For Amy, Joaquin, and our beloved Miss Poo, who is no longer with us and I will forever miss. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support, friendship, guidance, and patience of many people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife Amy, for bearing with me all of these years. I would like to thank my parents and sister for being always there when I needed them. Also, I would like to thank my Chair, Joel Migdal, for the outstanding mentorship, and the rest of my committee members, Michael McCann, Anthony Gill, and José Antonio Lucero, for always keeping their doors open for me. I would like to thank all the wonderful people I met at the University of Washington, without whom I would have lost my sanity, in particular Yoav Duman, Josh Eastin, Stephan Hamberg, and Steve Zech. I would also like to thank al the friends at the Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Económica y Social in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in particular Rosario León and Rodrigo Gazaui, and of the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos in Lima, Peru, in particular Ricardo Cuenca. Finally, I would like to thank Miss Poo, for keeping me company throughout the years, and hanging in there just long enough to allow me to finish. Thank you wherever you are. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii DEDICATION v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi CHAPTER 1: UNDOCUMENTED CITIZENS INTRODUCED 1 Some general notes about undocumented citizens 6 Undocumented citizens, stateless persons, and irregular immigrants 10 Research methods 13 A map for the road 16 CHAPTER 2: LEGIBILITY WITH AN EYEPATCH 30 The modern state and the documentation of individual identity 32 Legibility and its blind spots 40 Making dangerous populations more legible 45 Identity documents and its malcontents 49 The limits of the legibility paradigm 53 Beyond legibility: the politics of documentation 58 CHAPTER 3: INTRODUCING THE BOLIVIAN CASE 81 Some general notes on the documentation of individual identity in Bolivia 86 Documented and undocumented citizens in Bolivia: some basic numbers 92 A brief approximation to the history of the Bolivian nation-state 98 CHAPTER 4: IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FOR SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS 120 The demand for identity documents 121 viii The supply of identity documents 137 CHAPTER 5: RETHINKING STATE AND CITIZENS WITHIN THE CONFINES OF NEOLIBERALISM 166 The growing demand for identity documents 167 The contradictory supply of identity documents 198 CHAPTER 6: DEEPENING DEMAND, CHANGING SUPPLY: IDENTITY DOCUMENTS IN THE TIMES OF EVO MORALES 225 Continuity and change in the supply of identity documents 228 Expanding cash-transfer programs and the demand for identity documents 255 CHAPTER 7: UNDOCUMENTED CITIZENS IN PERU AND BEYOND 274 A brief look at identity documents in Peru 275 Undocumented citizens: where do we go from here? 328 BIBLIOGRAPHY 331 Interviews cited 331 References 334 1 CHAPTER 1: UNDOCUMENTED CITIZENS INTRODUCED “Ms. Estefanía Cu Caal, 76 years of age, from Escovial (Chiquimula) [Guatemala], has for many years longed to have a birth certificate. She had 10 children, none of which could be registered... Despite the fact that there are no witnesses of her birth left, and that her case is considered ‘difficult’, Ms. Estefanía keeps looking for a way to have her own legal existence recognized, and visits the civil registration office of Camotán once a month" (Ordóñez Bustamante and Bracamonte Bardález 2007, 20; my translation). "What is the use of signing up [registering]? I have not signed up any [of my children in the Civil Registry]; I am not signed up either, and without going to school I have raised 8 children" (resident of Tipitapa, Nicaragua; in Ordóñez Bustamante and Bracamonte Bardález 2006, 85; my translation). While the lack of identity documents has been widely discussed in the context of international migration, political scientists have generally ignored the millions of undocumented people who have never crossed an international border.1 They are undocumented citizens, legal citizens of the countries in which they reside who do not possess the official documents necessary to adequately establish their personal identities. As a consequence, they cannot exercise many of the rights formally afforded to citizens. Lacking identity documents often results in restrictions in the ability to participate in formal politics, legally own property, access the formal financial system, work in the formal economy, access the justice system, travel freely, and enjoy public services and social programs. At times, those lacking documents keenly feel their second class status, as in the case of Ms. Estefanía Cu Caal. In other instances, the undocumented do not perceive particular deprivation and consider identity documents dispensable, like the Nicaraguan man above. Similarly, modern states, which have been presented in the academic literature as determined to 1 A notable exception is the work of Kamal Sadiq (2009). Sadiq’s discussion of undocumented natives has significant common ground with my analysis of undocumented citizens. However, the focus of his book is on how illegal migrants moving between developing nations fraudulently acquire citizenship in their new countries of residence. As a result, he is only interested in undocumented citizens insofar as they underscore the gaps that frequently exist in documentation-based definition of membership, and how such gaps facilitate the citizenship claims of illegal immigrants. My focus here is on the condition of being an undocumented citizen per se. 2 enumerate, record, and document their populations,2 sometimes demonstrate indifference to the fact that many of their citizens remain undocumented. How can we explain this double ambivalence? Why do some states pursue remarkably erratic policies that combine mandatory birth registration and identity cards with documentation systems that put them beyond the reach of citizens like Ms. Cu Caal? Why do citizens of the same country oftentimes differ in their desire to acquire documents? These are the main questions I
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