UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Infrastructure, state formation, and social change in Bolivia at the start of the twentieth century. Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4f86f0s0 Author Egan, Nancy Elizabeth Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Infrastructure, state formation, and social change in Bolivia at the start of the twentieth century. A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Nancy Elizabeth Egan Committee in charge: Professor Christine Hunefeldt, Chair Professor Michael Monteon, Co-Chair Professor Everard Meade Professor Nancy Postero Professor Eric Van Young 2019 Copyright Nancy Elizabeth Egan, 2019 All rights reserved. SIGNATURE PAGE The Dissertation of Nancy Elizabeth Egan is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair ___________________________________________________________ Chair University of California San Diego 2019 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE ............................................................................................................ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... ix LIST OF GRAPHS ................................................................................................................ x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. xi VITA .................................................................................................................................. xiv ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION .......................................................................... xvi INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 Tensions in Bolivian state formation from Independence:................................................. 3 Questioning the reach and universality of the state: ........................................................... 8 Renewed liberal agendas and contradictions: .................................................................. 13 Railroads, liberal states and societies: .............................................................................. 20 Layout of Dissertation: ..................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER ONE: LIBERAL GEOGRAPHIES AND DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSES . 29 Introduction: ..................................................................................................................... 29 Part One: Dreams of railroads. ......................................................................................... 32 Interrupting geographies: ................................................................................................. 39 Frustrated national plans and the barriers to 19th projects: ............................................... 50 National sovereignty and borders: .................................................................................... 58 Part Two: New Liberals strategies for old plans. ............................................................. 62 The Speyer Contract: ........................................................................................................ 67 CHAPTER TWO: BUILDING THE ARICA – LA PAZ RAILROAD. ............................. 87 Introduction: ..................................................................................................................... 87 Historical antecedents to the Arica – La Paz project: ...................................................... 88 The Arica – La Paz Railroad: ........................................................................................... 98 Building the train: ........................................................................................................... 108 iv Labor recruitment for railroads: ..................................................................................... 112 A Liberal Mita: ............................................................................................................... 118 Building the Corocoro Branch: ...................................................................................... 124 Discussion: ..................................................................................................................... 136 CHAPTER THREE: REGIONAL COMMERCE, LOCAL POLITICS, AND LIBERAL PROJECTS. ........................................................................................................................ 141 Introduction: ................................................................................................................... 141 Problematic prophecies for the railroad: ........................................................................ 142 Commerce and infrastructure before the Train: .......................................................... 145 Consumption, contraband, and the railroad:................................................................... 147 Merchants, the local state and taxation: ......................................................................... 160 New patterns in exports and imports: ......................................................................... 173 Emergence of new (old) commodities: ....................................................................... 183 Discussion: ..................................................................................................................... 193 CHAPTER FOUR: LIBERAL MARKETPLACES .......................................................... 196 Introduction: ................................................................................................................... 196 Making markets, feeding people: ................................................................................... 198 Power in the marketplace and the role of guilds: ........................................................... 206 Indigenous niches in local markets: ............................................................................... 211 Gender in the marketplace: ............................................................................................. 217 Railroads as creators of new conflicts: ........................................................................... 232 Discussion: ..................................................................................................................... 249 CHAPTER FIVE: MAKING WORKERS, REMAKING INDIANS: THE MINES IN COROCORO. .................................................................................................................... 253 Introduction: ................................................................................................................... 253 Regional mining practices: ............................................................................................. 254 The events of August 1st, 1908: ...................................................................................... 259 Modernization of the mining sector in Corocoro: .......................................................... 266 Creating a disciplined workforce and town: ................................................................... 269 Contradictions of modernization: Fear of the Labor Problem. ...................................... 280 v Disciplining culture and workers: .................................................................................. 284 Discussion: ..................................................................................................................... 291 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 295 Colonial Liberals, Modern Colonialism: ........................................................................ 298 Disputed state formation: ............................................................................................... 303 Manipulation, evasion, and the re-utilization of the state and technology: .................... 307 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................... 314 Archives and Collections: .............................................................................................. 314 Printed Primary Sources: ................................................................................................ 315 Newspapers: ................................................................................................................... 318 Published Secondary Sources: ........................................................................................ 318 PhD Dissertations: .........................................................................................................