Abstract
As both a focus and locus of vibrant scholarly work, the field of Bolivian studies burst onto the international scene, carving a distinctive niche for itself within the larger fields of Andean and Latin American studies over the past twenty-five years. Bolivia went from being the hemisphere’s “least studied” country, according to a 1984LASA Forumsurvey, to becoming a beacon of intercultural dialogue, vanguard scholarship, and postcolonial debate. This essay traces Bolivian studies’ coming of age. Plotting the field’s developments and dialogues across history, anthropology, and ethnohistory, it argues that a dual process of academic decentering and epistemic reinvention unfolded in Bolivia at the height of its indigenous and popular mobilizations during the 1990s and early 2000s. The article closes by identifying five thematic clusters of recent research and briefly reflects on the place of Bolivian scholarship in the wider purview of Andean studies.
Highlights
Como foco y lugar de trabajo académico vibrante, el campo de los estudios bolivianos irrumpió en la escena internacional, labrándose un nicho distintivo dentro de los campos más amplios de los estudios andinos y latinoamericanos durante los últimos veinticinco años
This remarkable political and cultural effervescence was nurtured by local collectives of activists, teachers, and students experimenting with postcolonial and indigenous-centered research agendas and methodologies—ranging from scholarly collectives in search of silenced indigenous voices, hidden transcripts, and counternarratives to the field practitioners of an insurgent “applied anthropology” that served many highland ayllu communities in their ongoing land claims and quests for local sovereignty
One small index is the fact that thirteen scholarly panels were devoted exclusively to things Bolivian during the 2016 LASA conference
Summary
As both a focus and locus of vibrant scholarly work, the field of Bolivian studies burst onto the international scene, carving a distinctive niche for itself within the larger fields of Andean and Latin American studies over the past twenty-five years. Bolivia went from being the hemisphere’s “least studied” country, according to a 1984 LASA Forum survey, to becoming a beacon of intercultural dialogue, vanguard scholarship, and postcolonial debate. Como foco y lugar de trabajo académico vibrante, el campo de los estudios bolivianos irrumpió en la escena internacional, labrándose un nicho distintivo dentro de los campos más amplios de los estudios andinos y latinoamericanos durante los últimos veinticinco años. Bolivia pasó de ser el país “menos estudiado” del hemisferio, según una encuesta del Foro LASA de 1984, a convertirse en un faro de diálogo intercultural, estudios de vanguardia y debate postcolonial. El artículo cierra identificando cinco grupos temáticos de nuevas investigaciones, y reflexiona brevemente sobre el lugar de la investigación boliviana en el ámbito más amplio de los Estudios Andinos
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