Earth Politics

"In this fascinating study, the historian Waskar Ari explores the influence of religious beliefs and the evolving concept of 'Indian Law' to understand how indigenous intellectuals in Bolivia constructed a politics that valued heterogeneity and autonomy over accommodation or assimilation. Earth Politics is essential reading for anyone interested in race, ethnicity, and political struggles in Latin America." - Barbara Weinstein, coeditor of The Making of the Middle Class: Toward a Transnational History

"Waskar Ari is a well-known Bolivian historian and activist, one who speaks Aymara and has deep roots in rural indigenous Bolivia. He has built deep relationships of trust and responsibility through his long-standing work with indigenous community leaders. Using a startlingly original set of archival and oral materials, he has produced an important book that opens up an entirely unknown episode in the history of Bolivian and, more generally, Latin American indigenous movements." - Brooke Larson, author of Trials of Nation Making: Liberalism, Race, and Ethnicity in the Andes, 1810–1910

"A good summary of the Bolivian AMP for all Latin American social science researchers. . . . Highly recommended. All levels and libraries." - D. L. Browman, Choice

"This is really a treasure, a lens into the lives, visions, and political practices of the forebears of the contemporary movement that is changing Bolivia." - Nancy Postero & Devin Beaulieu, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

"This book is recommended for readers interested in indigenous history, Andean religious practices, or for use in courses on law, politics, or race in Latin America." - Colonial Latin American Historical Review

"Ari’s work is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the longer histories of indigenous revitalization in Bolivia.... [S]tudents of Latin America should read it closely to gain a fuller understanding of both the complexities of indigenous political projects and the stubborn durability of the colonial foundations of the Latin American state." - Bret Gustafson, The Historian

"In his unique historical approach, Waskar Ari contrasts the earlier Bolivian indigenous movement with the more modern revolutionary AMP movement to show how a politics of decolonization rather than a politics of reconciliation, although both well-intentioned, was better suited to serve the Indigenous populations of Bolivia.'" - Jordyn McCarley, AmeriQuests