UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO The Politics of Representing the Past in Bolivia A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Edward Fabian Kennedy Committee in charge: Professor Nancy Grey Postero, Chair Professor Jeffrey Haydu Professor Steven Parish Professor David Pedersen Professor Leon Zamosc 2009 Copyright Edward Fabian Kennedy, 2009 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Edward Fabian Kennedy is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2009 iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, Maud Roberta Roehl Kennedy. iv EPIGRAPH “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” Siddhartha Gautama Buddha v TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page .................................................................................................... iii Dedication .......................................................................................................... iv Epigraph ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ xi Vita ..................................................................................................................... xiii Abstract of the Dissertation ................................................................................ xiv Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................... 1 The “Two Bolivias” ............................................................................... 7 The “Return of the Indian” and the Rise of Regionalism ...................... 9 Regionalism, Difference, and the Politics of the Past ............................ 13 The Constitution ..................................................................................... 19 Representing the Past ............................................................................. 22 Research Questions ................................................................................ 29 What’s at Stake ...................................................................................... 30 Methodology .......................................................................................... 32 Chapter Outline ...................................................................................... 33 My History With Bolivia ....................................................................... 37 Chapter 2 Space and Social Distinctions in the Central Highlands ............ 41 The Social Production of Space ............................................................. 46 Wide-Open Spaces ................................................................................. 50 It Goes Back a Long Way in Latin America .......................................... 51 The Colonial Production of Space ......................................................... 52 The Production of Space in Bolivia ....................................................... 54 Traversing Spaces .................................................................................. 56 Urban Cochabamba ................................................................................ 57 vi The Clashes of January 2007 ................................................................. 59 The Barrio .............................................................................................. 65 The Valle Alto ........................................................................................ 69 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 73 Chapter 3 Local Affiliation, Regionalism, National Divisions, and the Past ........................................................................................... 77 Politics of Memory ................................................................................. 80 Inverted Ice-Box and the Paradox of Social Cohesion .......................... 83 Regionalism and National Divisions ...................................................... 85 Highland Indigenous Movements .......................................................... 88 Pre-MAS Highland Movements Rooted in Katarismo .......................... 91 The Rise of MAS and Evo ..................................................................... 94 The Media-Luna, Civic-Committees, and Autonomy in the Lowlands . 99 Talking with Mario ................................................................................ 103 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 106 Chapter 4 Local/National Oscillation ............................................................. 108 From a Land of Peons to the Region of Unions ..................................... 113 Discontent Arises and the Genesis of the Sindicatos Campesinos in the Central Highlands......................................................................... 116 Sindicato Campesino de Ucureña .......................................................... 119 Unionization in the Central Highlands ................................................... 125 From Revolution to Agrarian Reform .................................................... 129 From Agrarian Reform to the Military Campesino Pact ........................ 133 The Central Highlands Turns into Evo-Land ......................................... 137 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 141 Chapter 5 Patronazgo: Past and Present ....................................................... 145 Corporatism in Latin America ............................................................... 150 Bolivian Corporatism, Locally and Nationally ...................................... 152 Where Have the Tractors Gone? ............................................................ 155 The Delgadillo Family ........................................................................... 161 Discourses of Reciprocity ...................................................................... 164 Patronazgo: Past and Present ................................................................. 167 Talking About Leadership...................................................................... 170 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 171 Chapter 6 The Political Semiotics of Memory ............................................... 175 Theoretical Positioning .......................................................................... 178 Flags of the Past, Flags of the Present ................................................... 179 Flags and the Nation............................................................................... 185 vii Self-Representation and Social Differentiation: You Are a Kolla and not a Camba ..................................................................................... 190 Campesinos and Originarios .................................................................. 194 What’s in a Name?: Campesino ............................................................. 196 From Campesino to Originiario ............................................................. 199 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 201 Chapter 7 Autobiographical and Collective Memory: Connecting People and Places ................................................................................. 204 Approaches to Autobiographical and Collective Memory..................... 207 Schemas and Distributed Memory ......................................................... 209 Practices Connecting People .................................................................. 211 Practices and Places ............................................................................... 215 Overlap Between Autobiographical and Collective Memory ................ 217 Día Del Campesino and Representing the Past ...................................... 219 The Past is Right There, I Can Show it to You ...................................... 221 The Day Arrives ..................................................................................... 225 Evo is a Legend .....................................................................................