Co‐optation without representation: The relationship between the Bolivian state and the indigenous organization CONAMAQ

Abstract

AbstractThe goal of this article is to examine the process of institutionalization of the Bolivian indigenous organization National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu from its birth until 2019, and its consequences on the dynamics of organization. This organization, as one of the key indigenous representatives in Bolivia, went through its internal crisis under the second Movement for Socialism government led by the president of indigenous origin Evo Morales Ayma. The division and demobilization of the organization in this crisis seems paradoxical considering Morales’ indigenous origin and the anticolonial programmatic agenda that resulted in increasing numbers of indigenous people in state power structures. This paradox of organization crisis in times of indigenous rule and increasing indigenous political representation will be explored by means of process tracing method, to explain the relationship between institutionalization of the organization and its dynamics. For that purpose, the differentiation between institutionalization (substantive representation) and co‐optation (descriptive representation) will be made to reveal if the demobilization of the National Council organization stems from the perceived effectiveness of institutional ways of representation in the sense of satisfying the organization's demands or was caused by state actors’ strategies to mitigate its challengers through co‐optation and patronage.