Political Settlements, Extraction and Inclusion in Bolivia

• In Event: Political Settlements, Natural Resource Extraction and Inclusive Development: Comparing Latin America and Africa

Abstract

The paper argues that natural resources in Bolivia have served as a “mechanism of trade” mobilized by competing interest groups to create pacts and negotiate political settlements in which a dominant actor attempts to win over the opposition of those resistant to a particular vision of development and/or governance. These pacts and settlements are revisited constantly, reflecting the weak and fragmented power of the central state and elites. The nature of these settlements has varied over time depending upon the power of subaltern movements (e.g. in the 1952 MNR government and the election of Morales/MAS government) and other privileged elites (e.g. in the Media Luna conflict of 2008). However beginning in 2009, with the passage of the New Constitution (NPCE) and the referendum that reaffirmed the MAS/Morales government, there has been significant consolidation of political power in the central state. The mobilization of historical grievances over natural resource extraction has been central to the crafting of this new settlement and strengthening of the state.

Though Bolivia has been viewed as pursuing a more equitable “extraction with redistribution” model of development, inclusiveness has turned out to be uneven both spatially and ethnically. While distributional conflicts appear to be resolved or channelled through political institutions, struggles over rights and recognition persist and remain highly contentious. Furthermore, new and powerful rural and urban elites, with links to extractive activity (e.g. the mining cooperatives), have emerged as result of government policies, have been instrumental in shaping subsequent policies and themselves challenge the current settlement.

Author

• Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Clark University