Revolutionary Horizons: Past and Present in Bolivian Politics

by Forrest Hylton, Sinclair Thomson, Adolfo Gilly (Contributor)

A comprehensive study of insurrection in Bolivia, from the late eighteenth century to the present day. In an age of military neoliberalism, social movements and center-Left coalition governments have advanced across South America, sparking hope for radical change in a period otherwise characterized by regressive imperial and anti-imperial politics. Nowhere do the limits and possibilities of popular advance stand out as they do in Bolivia, the most heavily indigenous country in the Americas.

Focused on the history of indigenous and national-popular struggles for self-government from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, Revolutionary Horizons also traces the rise to power of Evo Morales's new administration, whose announced goals are to end imperial domination and internal colonialism through nationalization of the country's oil and gas reserves. In doing so, Hylton and Thompson provide an excavation of Andean revolution, whose successive layers of historical sedimentation comprise the subsoil, loam, landscape, and vistas for current political struggles in Bolivia. Revolutionary Horizons offers a unique and timely window onto the challenges faced by the Morales government and by the South American continent alike.

Genres: History, Bolivia, Politics, Latin American History, Nonfiction

202 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2007

Reviews

[Julian Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Hylton and Thomson put the rise of MAS and Evo Morales in the context of popular uprisings in Bolivian history since the Andean uprisings against Spanish colonialism in the 1870s and the nationalist MNR in the 1950s. This book was published in 2007 and it does not uncritically praise MAS and Morales but shows that their movement was empowered by popular mobilization and sometimes comes into conflict with the largely indigenous population in struggles for state representation, self-determination, and control over natural resources. There is an optimistic tone to this book, as the "pink tide" governments of early 2000s Latin America challenged the "Washington Consensus" and nationalized foreign-owned industries.

[Soph Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a breakneck look at nearly 500 years of history in 150 pages, focused on indigenous and 'national-popular' uprisings + mobilizations and the political results that flowed from them. Culminating shortly after Evo Morales and MAS came to power in 2005/2006, it's useful context but also a bit too much to absorb for how short the book is, I would have preferred something a bit longer that was a bit more descriptive about the events happening.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great primer on Bolivian history and critical to anyone who wants to understand that country's politics

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great short history of politics and struggle in Bolivia - from the colonial period to 2007 in less than 150 pages! Hylton and Thomson tell this history from the side of the indigenous majority, with a good eye to indigenous forms of community and politics.

There's a passionate, blow-by-blow account of the contemporary wave of struggle - starting from the Water Wars in Cochabamba in 2000. The last chapters also have a good assessment of the uneven gains Morales and MAS have been able to achieve since taking power.

My main criticism is their relatively uncritical appreciation of non-hierarchical, communal protest politics and their shorthanded discounting of 'old Left' revolutionary political strategy. But more on this in my upcoming review of the book in Against the Current...

[Shawnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The negative: it's not very well-written and a bit confusing at times. However, positively: it gives a great history of how Bolivia came out of colonialism to becoming the only nation in the Western Hemisphere with an indigenous president. It's concise, but this allows one to read Bolivia's political history quickly and not get too bogged down in details. If you want to know more about Bolivia, read this! If you don't care about Bolivia, may not be the best book for you to read.

[Nicky Dator · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about the rise of Evo Morales and indianism in Bolivia. Evo's rise to power was a result of massive social movements by the indigenous and the lower class population against the capitalist and the world of globalization.