Fourth Year Hon. Mention: Decolonizing the Nation-State: Indigenous Autonomy, Extractivism, and Consultation in Contemporary Bolivia

SOSC 4607, Indigeneity and International Development. CD: Miguel Gonzalez.

Abstract

In a first-rate paper, Varela examines the slow development of meaningful indigenous sovereignty in Bolivia. The author notes how even when this process is supported at the ballot box, indigenous communities applying for local autonomy face a high bar for state recognition. She also observes how the Bolivian government retains control over natural resources, leading to tensions between a central government dependent on resource royalties to balance its budget, the corporations involved in extraction, and an indigenous respect for the environment and its sustainable development. Promises of consultation are marked by “imbalances of power” that “disadvantage” local interests against those of government and neo-liberal businesses looking only for short-term profit. This well-written and researched paper raises many concerns that other countries with large indigenous communities (i.e. Canada) would do well to consider as they grapple with their own approaches to decolonization and First Nations sovereignty.