INSTITUTING POWER: POWER RELATIONS, INSTITUTIONAL HYBRIDITY, AND INDIGENOUS SELF-GOVERNANCE IN BOLIVIA by Jason Tockman B.S.S., Ohio University, 1994 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Political Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2014 © Jason Tockman, 2014 Abstract Scholars have long observed that institutions and power relations are cyclically constitutive, as institutions shape a given polity’s power relations, and the latter influence the design of institutions. This dissertation unveils how indigenous agents interact with each other, and with the state’s bureaucrats and consultants to create divergent institutional trajectories in a new institutional environment: the construction of 11 pilot institutions of indigenous self-governance in Bolivia, as provided by the 2009 Constitution. The combinations of institutional forms have most significantly been shaped by local relations of power among differently identifying indigenous agents, and by the state-determined socio-territorial boundaries that are the site of institutional construction. Each new “indigenous autonomy” combines liberal and indigenous norms, constituting a hybrid model of indigenous autonomy. Within that model we can discern a bifurcation in which some institutions are more liberal and others are more communitarian. These observations contribute to our understanding of democracy and citizenship in contemporary Latin America as states respond to popular pressures for more rights and inclusion, in what many have called “left turns.” In terms of democracy, this study illustrates how electoral representation is complemented by communitarian democratic forms in ways that enhance Bolivia’s historically exclusionary democracy, yet how elaboration of communitarian democracy is also constrained by the party-based system of representation. Meanwhile, the Constitution’s expansion of rights has contributed to what some observers have called “post- liberal” citizenship. This investigation indicates that state-society relations in Bolivia are not well-characterized as populist, liberal or corporatist; rather, they are concomitantly plural, cyclical and reactive – which I conceive of as interest intermediation by “contentious bargaining.” The contradictions in the construction of these “indigenous autonomies” are a consequence the changing character of the ruling party. As the Movement toward Socialism and its leader, Evo Morales, have shifted from an oppositional force to elected government, they have contended with a complex correlation of social forces and pursued a development program of resource nationalism that responds to widespread calls for economic growth and poverty reduction. In Bolivia’s contentious context, the state’s disposition with regard to indigenous self- governance has been contradictory, simultaneously enabling and constraining indigenous rights. ii Preface This dissertation is an original and unpublished intellectual product of the author, J. Tockman. The fieldwork reported throughout the dissertation was covered by UBC Ethics Certificate number H11-01875. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vi List of Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... x Dedication ................................................................................................................................... xiv Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I. Theoretical framework, conceptual issues ............................................................. 20 Institutions, power and hybridity .................................................................................................. 22 Indigenous peoples, rights and identification ............................................................................... 42 Diverse democracy ........................................................................................................................ 62 Citizenship: form and content ....................................................................................................... 77 Chapter II. Empirical description of indigenous autonomy in Bolivia .................................. 91 Historical context .......................................................................................................................... 93 The post-2009 legal framework for indigenous autonomy ......................................................... 103 Institutional-procedural changes underway in relation to indigenous autonomy ....................... 110 Indigenous autonomies – case studies ........................................................................................ 114 Primary cases .............................................................................................................................. 117 Secondary cases .......................................................................................................................... 191 Chapter III. Comparison of the autonomy statutes ............................................................... 208 Bolivia’s first eight indigenous autonomy statutes ..................................................................... 209 A model of indigenous autonomy, with two subtypes ................................................................ 228 Chapter IV. Analysis of indigenous rights in Bolivia ............................................................ 232 Indigenous autonomy .................................................................................................................. 233 The Constitution and secondary legislation ................................................................................ 260 The TIPNIS ................................................................................................................................. 272 Whither indigenous rights ........................................................................................................... 279 Chapter V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 284 Institutions, power and hybridity ................................................................................................ 284 Diverse democracy ...................................................................................................................... 290 Citizenship by contentious bargaining ........................................................................................ 293 Indigenous rights ......................................................................................................................... 298 Looking forward ......................................................................................................................... 303 Lessons for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ....................................... 304 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 308 Appendix: Methodology and research considerations .......................................................... 332 iv List of Tables Table 1. Causal factors in the construction of indigenous self-governance ................................... 8 Table 2. Timeline of key events related to indigenous autonomy .............................................. 104 Table 3. Bolivian municipalities converting to indigenous autonomy ....................................... 116 Table 4. Socio-economic indicators of primary cases ................................................................ 119 Table 5. TIOCs of Charagua ....................................................................................................... 176 Table 6. Socio-economic factors of municipalities converting to AIOC .................................... 195 Table 7. Geography and resources of municipalities converting to AIOC ................................. 195 Table 8. Deliberative organs in autonomy statutes ..................................................................... 210 Table 9. Comparison of approved autonomy statutes ................................................................. 227 Table 10. Characteristics of indigenous autonomy in Bolivia .................................................... 229 v List of Figures Figure