Unresolved Tensions: Bolivia Past and Present(Pitt Latin American Series)

The landslide election of Evo Morales in December 2005 pointed toward a process of accelerated change in Bolivia, forging a path away from globalization and the neoliberal paradigm in favor of greater national control and state intervention. This in turn shifted the power relations of Bolivia's internal politics-beginning with greater inclusion of the indigenous population-and altered the nation's foreign relations. Unresolved Tensions engages this realignment from a variety of analytical perspectives, using the Morales election as a lens through which to reassess Bolivia's contemporary political reality and its relation to a set of deeper historical issues. This volume brings together an expert group of commentators and participants from within the Bolivian political arena to offer diverse perspectives and competing views on issues of ethnicity, regionalism, state-society relations, constitutional reform, economic development, and globalization. In this way, the contributors seek to reassess Bolivia's past, present, and future, consider the ways in which the nation's historical developments flow from these deeper currents, and assess the opportunities and challenges that arise within the new political context.

About the Author :
John Crabtree is a research associate at the Centre for Latin American Studies, University of Oxford. He is the author of Peru under Garcia: An Opportunity Lost; The Great Tin Crisis; and Making Institutions Work in Peru: Democracy, Development, and Inequ John Crabtree is a research associate at the Centre for Latin American Studies, University of Oxford. He is the author of Peru under Garcia: An Opportunity Lost; The Great Tin Crisis; and Making Institutions Work in Peru: Democracy, Devel

Review :
Bolivia is passing through an extraordinary period of democratic turbulence in which formerly consensual ideas are being challenged as never before. This unusual and polemical collection of essays by some of the leading scholars of Bolivia is an important introduction to this political discussion. Readers will find here a good summary of sharply differing positions on the fundamental issues that have emerged since the election of Evo Morales.-- "Herbert S. Klein, Stanford University" Unresolved Tensions is a very important book about Bolivia's modern history. With insight and clarity, it explores the major themes that are at the center of conflicts about the past and present of the country and provides competing visions of its future.-- "Merilee S. Grindle, Harvard University" [This] book will remain essential reading for some time to come . . . Crabtree's introduction to the volume and Whitehead's comparative and historical conclusions are masterful, and offer insights into how scholarship on Bolivian politics is ideologically framed.-- "Journal of Latin American Studies" Summarizes with clarity and candor the momentous issues that have formed the core of debates about change in this Andean nation since the landslide victory of Morales in December 2005, debates which seem to come to a head in the constitutional debate.-- "Latin American Review of Books" This engaging book should be read by all scholars interested in Bolivia.-- "Hispanic American Historical Review "