Changing Land Rights Means Changing the Society : The Sociopolitical Effects of Agrarian Reforms under the government of Evo Morales

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_CB889608AD5C
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
Changing Land Rights Means Changing the Society : The Sociopolitical Effects of Agrarian Reforms under the government of Evo Morales
Journal
Journal of Agrarian Change
Author(s)
Bottazzi P., Rist S.
ISSN
1471-0366
Publication state
Published
Issued date
10/2012
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
12
Number
4
Pages
528-551
Language
english
Abstract
Agrarian reform cannot be limited to a linear process of land distribution. It involves a societal restructuration that affects power relations, multi-level governance structures, the (re)spatialization of juridical legitimacy and symbolic boundaries between sociocultural groups (ethnicity). This paper analyses the consequences of the major Bolivian agrarian reforms of 1953, 1996 and 2006 for the current process of setting up the 'plurinational' state under the government of Evo Morales. Using a historical and sociopolitical approach, we show that the ethnically differentiated devolution of individual and collective tenure rights has resulted in an institutional segmentation along ethnic boundaries that gives rise to a growing polarization between the two socially constructed categories of indigenous people and peasants. This institutional segmentation is not limited to agrarian questions but also affects other domains, such as political processes related to territorial autonomies. The current government is trying to maintain a neutral position by giving priority to large-scale national programmes of economic development.
Keywords
Land reform, Bolivia, indigenous people, governance, property rights
Create date
25/10/2012 16:40
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:46
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