Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T14:27:42.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Eight - What happens when community organisers move into government? Recent experience in Bolivia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2022

Marjorie Mayo
Affiliation:
Goldsmiths, University of London
Get access

Summary

Introduction

A country of about ten million people, Bolivia has long been among the poorest states in the world, with high levels of inequality resulting from centuries of colonial and neocolonial exploitation and elite rule. However, since 2005, the Bolivian government has been in the hands of the MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo): a party defining itself as the ‘political instrument’ of Bolivia's strong social movements, which brought Evo Morales and the MAS to power. Morales himself, and many people who came into government with him, came from community organising backgrounds in these social movements.

With a majority indigenous population and strong, radical trades unions, issues of class and race – ‘marxismo y indianismo’ - are intimately entwined in Bolivian radical politics. This chapter will explore how such issues are reflected and refracted in MAS policies. It will then examine the Bolivian experience of a ‘government of the social movements’, in which many leading figures have a background in community organising and social movements. How, and to what extent, have both the policies and the processes of governance of the MAS reflected this? Key policies, such as the introduction of a new Constitution drawn up by a popular constituent assembly, formally entrench indigenous community culture and practices within the state. A growing state role in the economy has provided resources for redistributive welfare policies and increasing living standards. However, as the MAS nears its first decade in power, tensions are beginning to show. While it retains very strong popular support, some accuse the government of an increasingly authoritarian statism and of abandoning its community roots. The entry of social movement leaders into government is said to have weakened the movements themselves, while ex-community organisers now in senior government positions are accused of incompetence. Divisions are emerging between community organisations that were previously united behind the MAS.

In exploring these tensions, the chapter will help to illuminate both the potential and the pitfalls of an attempt to embed radical conceptions of class and race in the state, and an attempt to foreground community organising and community development principles in government policy.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2016

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×