Constructing Indigenous Autonomy in Plurinational Bolivia: Possibilities and Ambiguities

• Published date: 01 November 2018
• Author: Paul Haber,Aaron Augsburger
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X18791970
• Date: 01 November 2018
• Subject Matter: ArticlesIndigenous Communities and the State

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 223, Vol. 45 No. 6, November 2018, 53–67

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X18791970

© 2018 Latin American Perspectives

53

Constructing Indigenous Autonomy

in Plurinational Bolivia

Possibilities and Ambiguities

by

Aaron Augsburger and Paul Haber

The municipality of Charagua recently became the first autonomía indígena origi-

naria campesina (autonomous indigenous peasant community) in Bolivia under the

2009 plurinational constitution. A coalition of indigenous leaders backed by a majority of

voters embraced the change as a vehicle for bolstering local control over key decisions,

thereby advancing local preferences for indigenous forms of governance, values, and con-

trol over the development model with special attention to natural resources. The possibil-

ity remains, however, that it may operate to incorporate the indigenous community into

the governing apparatus, thus making it more legible to the state and open to new forms

of regulation, management, and control. Examining the state as a historically contingent

and socially determined relationship helps make sense of this situation.

La municipalidad de Charagua se convirtió recientemente en la primera autonomía

indígena originaria campesina en Bolivia bajo la constitución plurinacional de 2009. Una

coalición de líderes indígenas respaldada por la mayoría de los votantes abrazó al cambio

como un vehículo para reforzar el control local sobre las decisiones clave, así promoviendo

las preferencias locales por las formas indígenas de gobernanza, valores y control sobre el

modelo de desarrollo con especial atención a los recursos naturales. Sin embargo, queda la

posibilidad de que pueda operar para incorporar a la comunidad indígena en el aparato de

gobierno, haciéndola más legible para el estado y abierta a nuevas formas de regulación,

gestión y control. Examinar el estado como una relación históricamente contingente y

determinada socialmente ayuda a comprender a esta situación.

Keywords: Bolivia, Indigenous autonomy, Plurinationality, State, Legibility

In September 2015 the municipality of Charagua in the eastern department

of Santa Cruz passed a referendum to become the first autonomía indígena origi-

naria campesina (indigenous peasant autonomy—AIOC) in Bolivia under the

country’s 2009 constitution. The new constitution, which was one outcome of

the 2000–2005 insurrectionary period that eventually brought Evo Morales and

the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement toward Socialism—MAS) to power,

sought to “refound” the Bolivian state, society, and economy and began by

officially renaming the nation the “Plurinational State of Bolivia.” One of its

Aaron Augsburger is a Ph.D. candidate in the Politics Department at the University of California,

Santa Cruz. Paul Haber is a professor in the Department of Political Science and president of the

faculty union at the University of Montana.

791970LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X18791970Latin American PerspectivesAugsburger And Haber / Constructing Indigenous Autonomy In Bolivia

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