Peasants and revolution: the case of Bolivia

Abstract

At the beginning of Part One of this article, an approach to an explanation of the survival of serfdom in Bolivia until 1953 and of its breakdown, is made by means of the analysis of the system of social control which was maintained, in the context of the absence of strong market currents in agricultural products. The workings of the system were demonstrated with reference to the peasants' revolt of 1899, an episode which was shown to have been possible because a fraction of the elite was prepared to suspend the rules which governed the system.