In: Iberoamericana: Nordic journal of Latin American and Caribbean studies ; revista nordica de estudios latinoamericanos y del Caribe, Volume 43, Issue 1-2, p. 19
El conflicto en torno a la construcción de una carretera que atravesaría el Territorio Indígena del Parque Nacional Isiboro Sécure (TIPNIS), desatado en agosto de 2011, ha marcado un momento de ruptura en las relaciones entre el gobierno boliviano y los movimientos sociales, y entre las propias organizaciones. En este artículo se proporcionan algunos elementos de análisis que permitan comprender el reciente cambio en los equilibrios políticos y sociales en Bolivia. Después de un período de alianzas y el apoyo mutuo ante las amenazas de los enemigos externos – en particular, el neoliberalismo y los poderes oligárquicos – los movimientos sociales han entrado recientemente en un momento de fragmentación y disputa sobre el acceso a los mismos espacios físicos, simbólicos y de potencia. Las reformas normativas y constitucionales, así como la nueva remodelación de configuraciones sociales y el poder político han contribuido a este escenario conflictivo, que encuentra una de sus principales y más simbólicas expresiones en los conflictos por la tierra y el territorio, como el conflicto del TIPNIS.English:The conflict around the construction of a road that would cut across the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS), exploded in August 2011 and still unsolved, can be considered a turning point in the relationship between the Bolivian government and social movements, and among social movements themselves. This paper provides some insights to understand the recent shift in Bolivian political and social equilibria. After a period of alliances and mutual support in the face of threats from external enemies – in particular, neoliberalism and oligarchic powers – social movements have recently entered into a moment of fragmentation and contention over access to the same physical, symbolic and power spaces. Both recent normative and constitutional reforms as well as new reshaping of social configu-rations and political power contributed to this conflictive scenario, which finds one of its main and most symbolic expressions in the conflicts for land and territory such as the TIPNIS dispute.
On 18th December 2012, Evo Morales celebrated his seventh anniversary as president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. In 2005, this Aymara coca growers' union leader was elected for the first time, with the support of social movements and, in particular, of the peasant and indigenous sectors, inaugurating a moment of political transition that raised many expectations for an in-depth transformation of the state-civil societal relationship. A complex reshaping that, as the popular belief suggests, was going to pass through a highly delicate moment: the seventh year. Relying upon an in-depth empirical research on social and land conflicts in Bolivia, this work aims to analyze the revitalization of new corporative struggles among collective rural actors (indigenous vs. peasant) in light of the recent institutional and normative reforms. The latter have favored a reconfiguration of the relationship between the state and social sectors, inaugurating a new phase of fragmentation and conflict.
On 18th December 2012, Evo Morales celebrated his seventh anniversary as president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. In 2005, this Aymara coca growers' union leader was elected for the first time, with the support of social movements and, in particular, of the peasant and indigenous sectors, inaugurating a moment of political transition that raised many expectations for an in-depth transformation of the state-civil societal relationship. A complex reshaping that, as the popular belief suggests, was going to pass through a highly delicate moment: the seventh year. Relying upon an in-depth empirical research on social and land conflicts in Bolivia, this work aims to analyze the revitalization of new corporative struggles among collective rural actors (indigenous vs. peasant) in light of the recent institutional and normative reforms. The latter have favored a reconfiguration of the relationship between the state and social sectors, inaugurating a new phase of fragmentation and conflict. ; El 18 diciembre de 2012, Evo Morales celebró su séptimo aniversario como presidente del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. Este líder cocalero aymara fue elegido en 2005 con el apoyo de los principales movimientos sociales, inaugurando un momento de transición política que generó muchas expectativas por una profunda transformación de la relación entre Estado y sociedad civil. Una relación evidentemente compleja que, como lo sugiere la creencia popular, está por entrar en un momento muy delicado: el séptimo año. A partir de un estudio empírico de los conflictos sociales y por la tierra en Bolivia, este trabajo da cuenta de la revitalización de nuevas luchas corporativas entre actores colectivos rurales (indígenas vs. campesinos) a la luz de las recientes reformas institucionales y normativas. Estas últimas han favorecido un proceso de reconfiguración en la relación entre Estado y sectores sociales, abriendo paso a una fase de fragmentación y conflicto.
Since the crisis of October 2003, better known as the "Gas War", the Bolivian political system has been shaken by two movements: the rural peasant-indigenous, movement embodied by the coca-growers leader and current president Evo Morales, and the regionalist movement led by the elites of the Eastern departments. Relying upon two researches on conflict and new political configurations in Bolivia since Morales' election, this article analyzes the multiple political and organizational expressions generated by new forms of territoriality. The latter were the result of the social demands and the regulatory and institutional reforms implemented over the last decade. From these empirical grounded and analytical perspectives, both regionalist movements and peasant-indigenous movements -often considered diametrically opposed and even mutually reactive phenomena- appear as the result of parallel and interwoven processes of territorial reconfiguration, within a broader framework marked by the distancing from traditional national and party politics and a return to the local, where a new link between identities and territories has been gaining new importance and strength.