Deborah Yashar analyzes the contemporary and uneven emergence of Latin American indigenous movements--addressing both why indigenous identities have become politically salient in the contemporary period and why they have translated into significant political organizations in some places and not others. She argues that ethnic politics can best be explained through a comparative historical approach that analyzes three factors: changing citizenship regimes, social networks, and political associational space--providing insight into the fragility and unevenness of Latin America's third wave democracies.
Contents
Part I. Theoretical Framing: 1. Questions, approaches, and cases; 2. Citizenship regimes, the state, and ethnic cleavages; 3. The argument: indigenous mobilization in Latin America; Part II. The Cases: 4. Ecuador: Latin America's strongest indigenous movement; 5. The Ecuadorian Andes and ECUARUNARI; 6. The Ecuadorian Amazon and CONFENAIE; 7. Forming the National Confederation, CONAIE; 8. Bolivia: strong regional movements; 9. The Bolivian Andes: the Kataristas and their legacy; 10. The Bolivian Amazon; 11. Peru: weak national movements and subnational variation; 12. Peru. Ecuador, and Bolivia: most similar cases; 13. No national indigenous movement: explaining the Peruvian anomaly; 14. Explaining subnational variation; 15. Conclusion: 16. Democracy and the postliberal challenge in Latin America.
Prize Winner
2006 Best Book Prize, New England Council of Latin American Studies
Honorable Mention, 2006 Mattei Dogan Award, Society for Comparative Research
Reviews
"...a rigorous theoretical framework to a study of democratic issues related to ethnic movements...the book...will inspire students in international relations, political science, indigenous studies and sociology of development."
Political Studies Review
"well-researched"
American Journal of Sociology, William I. Robinson
"This is an excellent book and a worthy addition to the series of volumes on collective violence and political movements in the Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics."
Perspectives on Politics, Waltraud Queiser Morales, University of Central Florida
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