Contents
1 Cochabamba: Bolivia’s Breadbasket
Inca Rule and European Expansion
The Colonial Legacy in Early Bolivia
Liberalism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Populism at Mid-Twentieth Century
Comunarios and Campesinos as Dynamic Political Actors
Valley Political Struggles: Ucureña
2 Peasant Struggles for Unionization and Land (1952–53)
Two Conflicting Projects Inside the MNR
Early Peasant Political Struggles in Cochabamba
Peasants Movements Disrupt Cochabamba Politics
Radical Peasant Revolutionaries in the Valley
Discursive Polyphony: Landlords, Peasants, and the MNR
3 The Agrarian Reform and the State’s Discursive Dominion (1954–58)
Peasants and the Left-Wing Populist Paradigm
Class Conflicts in the Land Distribution Process
Ethnic Conflicts in the Land Distribution Process
Peasant Unionism Faces Re-adaptation of Revolutionary State Policies
Peasant “Troscobites” and “Progressive” Landlords
Vecinos versus Campesinos Clash in the Highlands
Hegemonic Discourse: The Peasants and the MNR
4 Peasant Wars and Political Autonomy (1959–64)
The Struggle for Power and the Role of Peasant Unionism
The Champa Guerra in Cochabamba
The Cold War and the Policy of Terror in Cochabamba
The Political Stage Returns to the City
Old Discourses and New Actors: Peasants, MNR Politicians, and the Military
5 Living the Revolution and Crafting New Identities
Authority, Power, and Gender in Peasant Society
Ethnicity and Territoriality in the Valleys
Campesino Political Experience in Cochabamba
Mestizaje and Popular Resistance
Revolutionary Campesino Politics
Revolutionary Campesino Identity