The Rise of Evo Morales and the MAS

Evo Morales is one of the world's most controversial political leaders. His story is extraordinary: poor shepherd-boy, persecuted coca grower, self-professed admirer of Ché Guevara, hero of the anti-globalization movement, and first indigenous president of modern Latin America.

The story of the social movement turned political party he is a part of -- the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) -- is also exceptional: originally founded as a splinter of an ultra-right party, it was given as a gift for the coca growers after they had been banned several times for spurious reasons to register their own party, and went on to become an irresistible force for indigenous rights in Bolivia.

In this insightful and revealing book, Sven Harten explains the success of the MAS and its wider consequences, showing how Morales has become the symbol for a new political consciousness that has entailed de-stigmatizing indigenous identities. In many ways, the analysis of Morales's political trajectory serves as a mirror for democracy in Bolivia. It reveals the challenge of squaring the rupture with a discredited past with the continuity of democracy and the aim of representing an entire society.

Auteur

Sven Harten has done extensive fieldwork in Bolivia, and holds a PhD in Political Science from the London School of Economics (LSE). He currently works as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the IFC-World Bank Group in Lima, Peru.

Contenu

Preface: A Journey
Part I

1. Bolivia's Political History
   Crisis of Representation in Bolivia
   From Revolution to Dictatorship to Transition: 1952 - 1978
   Bolivian Nationalism - A Brief History
   Origins of Bolivian Nationalism
   The 1952 Revolution and the Nacionalismo Revolucionario
   Assimilationist Nation
   Democratic Institutions since Democratic Politics
   Coca: A brief Sketch of a Damned Holy Plant
   War on Drugs

2. Evo's Youth and Upbringing
   Evo
   Evo's University: Looking for Another Form of Democracy
   School of Democracy
   Relative Structurality of Signifiers: Origins of Evo Morales's Notion of the Nation

3. Rise of Coca Growers (Mid 1980s to Early 1990s)
   History of the Coca Growers' Movement
   Structuring Force of Society
   Internal Functioning
   Formalized Organizational Structure
   The Assemblies
   Type and Sequence of Meetings
   Leadership
   Coca Discourse: Defending the Sacred Leaf
   Uniting Heterogeneity in a Chain of Equivalence
   From Stigmatized Plant to Symbol of Sovereignty

   Part II

4. Morales's Political Instrument? The Creation of MAS (Early 1990s)
   Brief History of the 'Instrumento Político' MAS
   MAS: A Bottom-Up Perspective of the Party
   Movement-Cum-Party
   Old Wine in New Bottles or Really Something New?
   President Morales: a Product of the Reforms of his Adversaries?
   Long-term Grievances

5. Outside Challengers Rise Amidst Waves of Protests (1995-2002)
   Second Generation Reforms
   Party Politics - Where is the 'Silent Revolution'?
   Waves of Conflicts
   War on Drugs
   The Year 2000: a Turning Point?
   Guerra del Agua in 2000
   Guerra del Gas or Octubre Negro 2003
   Conclusion

6. MAS Rises to Political Dominance (2002-2005)
   Reaching Out to Other Social Movements
   Lack of Clear Structures: A New Form of Doing Politics?
   Institutionalizing Party Structures
   Opening the Party Lists
   Leadership
   Characteristics of Leaders
   Election of Candidates
   Organizational Problems

7. Compañero Evo: The Symbol of the Pluricultural People
   The People
   Who are The People?
   Mobilizing People to Become 'The People'
   The People and the Exercise of Power
   Construction of Identity
   The People' in Morales's Discourse
   Somos MAS, Somos el Pueblo
   Who Constitute 'the People' in Bolivia?
   Implications of the New Articulation of 'the People'
   Conclusion

   Part III

8. Boliviäs First Indigenous President (2005-2010)
   Bolivia Under President Morales
   Morales: Nationalist and Populist?
   The Imagining of the Nation as 'Nation of Nations'
   The 'Plurinational' Nation
   Filling the 'Plurinational' Nation with Meaning
   What Holds the Diversity Together
   Imagining the Nation: Recovering its Sovereignty
   Imagining a 'Productive' Nation: Re-Thinking Development
   Dignity
   A New Imaginary of the Nation: Challenging Existing Power Relations

9. Refounding the State - The Foundational Promise of Populism
   Introduction
   Building a New State - What Had to Change?
   Recover and Refound the State
   The Target of Change: Defining the State
   Refounding the New State - Alternative Form of Modernity
   Principles of a New State
   Relationship Between Culture and the State
   The Path to Change: Asamblea Constituyente
   Great Expectations: Constituent Assembly as Collective Ritual
   Bolivia's New Constitution
   Analyzing the Role of the State
   Conclusion

10. Conclusion: The Difficult Road Ahead for President Morales and the MAS