Earth Politics: Religion, Decolonization, and Bolivia’s Indigenous Intellectuals

Description

“Earth Politics” focuses on the lives of four indigenous activist-intellectuals in Bolivia| key leaders in the Alcaldes Mayores Particulares (AMP)| a movement established to claim rights for indigenous education and reclaim indigenous lands from hacienda owners. The AMP leaders invented a discourse of decolonization| rooted in part in native religion| and used it to counter structures of internal colonialism| including the existing racial systems. Waskar Ari calls their social movement| practices| and discourse earth politics| both because the AMP emphasized the idea of the earth and the place of Indians on it| and because of the political meaning that the AMP gave to the worship of the Aymara gods. Depicting the social worlds and life work of the activists| Ari traverses Bolivia’s political and social landscape from the 1920s into the early 1970s. He reveals the AMP ‘s extensive geographic reach| genuine grassroots quality| and vibrant regional diversity. Ari had access to the private archives of indigenous families| and he collected oral histories| speaking with men and women who knew the AMP leaders. The resulting examination of Bolivian indigenous activism is one of unparalleled nuance and depth.