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Dilemmas of Modernity provides an innovative approach to the study of contemporary Bolivia, moving telescopically between social, political, legal, and discursive analyses, and drawing from a range of disciplinary traditions. Based on a decade of research, it offers an account of local encounters with law and liberalism. Mark Goodale presents, through a series of finely grained readings, a window into the lives of people in rural areas of Latin America who are playing a crucial role in the emergence of postcolonial states. The book contends that the contemporary Bolivian experience is best understood by examining historical patterns of intention as they emerge from everyday practices. It provides a compelling case study of the appropriation and reconstruction of transnational law at the local level, and gives key insights into this important South American country.
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Dilemmas of Modernity
Dilemmas of Modernity Bolivian Encounters with Law and Liberalism Mark Goodale
Stanford University Press Stanford, California
Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goodale, Mark. Dilemmas of modernity : Bolivian encounters with law and liberalism / Mark Goodale. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8047-5981-6 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-8047-5982-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sociological jurisprudence—Bolivia. 2. Law and the social sciences—Bolivia. 3. Indigenous peoples—Civil rights—Bolivia. 4. Liberalism—Bolivia. 5. Human rights—Bolivia. 6. Social change—Bolivia. I. Title. KHC315.G66 2009 340'.1150984—dc22 Typeset by Westchester Book Group in 10/14 Minion
2008029539
For Javier and Freddy
Contents
List of Tables and Figures
ix
Acknowledgments
xiii
1 Modern Dilemmas
1
2 Paris in the Andes: Law and the Modern Subject
30
3 The Making of a Legal Universe: Law and the Practice of Everyday Life
54
4 Courts of Desire: Gender, Power, and the Law
82
5 Human Rights and the Moral Imagination: Becoming Liberal in the Norte de Potosí
114
6 Modern Dreams: An Ethnography of Grandeur
142
Conclusion: New Revolutionary Moves
161
viii
Contents
Notes
183
Bibliography
201
Index
239
List of Tables and Figures
Tables 4.1 Percentage of women at Sacaca’s legal institutions
101
5.1 New arrivals to SLI, 1995
137
5.2 Types of cases processed by SLI, 1995
137
5.3 New arrivals to SLI, 1996
137
5.4 Types of cases processed by SLI, 1996
138
5.5 New arrivals to SLI, 1997
138
5.6 Types of cases processed by SLI, 1997
138
Figures 1.1
Map of Bolivia within its regional context
6
1.2 Map of Potosí department
7
1.3 Sacaca, Alonso de Ibañez
11
1.4 Abundant cornfield, Vitora, Canton Ovejería
11
1.5 Quinoa field in full bloom, between Churata and Llapa-Llapa, Canton Wila Wila
12
1.6 Eroded fields above Waraya, Canton Sillu Sillu
13
3.1 Parties wait to be heard on Sunday at the house of the corregidor titular, Sacaca