Domesticating Democracy

"With deep insight, Susan Helen Ellison maps the confluence of U.S. investment in Bolivian democracy and liberalization policies that steepened personal debt for many Bolivians. She shows in rich detail how the alternative dispute resolution forums backed by NGOs in the name of democracy have become materially central to the form and substance of interpersonal relations. Her trenchant analysis of what she calls political intimacy is compelling, convincing, and moving—a major contribution to democracy studies." - Carol J. Greenhouse, author of The Paradox of Relevance: Ethnography and Citizenship in the United States

“Domesticating Democracy is an original, timely, and important book. Susan Helen Ellison provides a fascinating study of alternative dispute resolution as a form of neoliberal governmentality, and her experience as intern and ethnographer in the institutions she studies shines through. Well-researched, clearly written, convincing, and full of rich ethnographic detail, this book will find an audience among anthropologists and legal scholars interested in Latin America, urban studies, and democratization.” - Daniel M. Goldstein, author of Owners of the Sidewalk: Security and Survival in the Informal City

"An in-depth study of the complexities of a foreign-founded programme of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and its eff ects, appropriations and interpretations amongst El Alto residents in Bolivia . . . particularly relevant for practitioners and civil servants."
  - Nico Tassi, Anthropology in Action

"Ellison uses insightful accounts to weave people’s daily experiences of conflicts and vulnerability into the work of the ADR centres and the judicial structure of the country. . . . The book is very valuable in helping us understand Bolivia’s complex process of change, the structural impediments to peaceful progress and the vulnerabilities of large proportions of the populations – conditions that are not automatically helped by foreign funded programmes." - Charlotta Widmark, Journal of Latin American Studies

“Ellison’s volume looks at the introduction of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods in El Alto as of the late 1990s, but particularly in the wake of the 2003 ‘gas war’ that brought down the second Sánchez de Lozada government…. She uses as her title the idea of ‘domesticating democracy.’ This is a nice conceit, since ‘domesticating’ can have several meanings…” - John Crabtree, Latin American Research Review

“[Domesticating Democracy] elegantly elucidates the ways that Bolivian political conflicts move across and thereby newly draw together domestic, national, and transnational practices and institutions.” - Mareike Winchell, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

“[Domesticating Democracy] is an important book for scholars of the Andes and political and legal studies scholars, as well as anyone trying to get their head around what neoliberalism is and what (hopefully, someday) comes next. . . . The clear writing and strong narrative thread make it a good option for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in all disciplines.” - Susan Ellison, Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology