Indigenous Movements in the Central Andes

Abstract

The article examines the emergence, or non-emergence, of indigenous movements in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia with the focus on local-level and national political dynamics. It analyzes the evolving nature of the Quechua/Quichua and Ayamara communities, the rise of Andean peasant movements, and their transformation into indigenous ones in the cases of Bolivia and Ecuador. It is argued that indigenous movements in the Central Andes arose in close alliance with national actors prior to the double transition to political democracy and economic neoliberalism. While this transition offered indigenous organizations new opportunities for political participation and international networking, it also revealed the existence of a profound conflict between indigenous and neoliberal agendas.