This project involves the dissertation research of a student of cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago. The project involves the ethnographic study of local peasant Indian labor leaders in highland Bolivia. Taking the highland town of Quillacollo as a representative center of peasant political activity, the project will study the main regional peasant union, using participant-observation of union meetings and other public activities; recording the history of local disputes and their resolution; extensive interviews with leaders and their familes, including recording the personal political networks and political biographies of leaders, as well as a survey of patterns of livelihood. The research will assess whether peasant unions continue to provide a sense of shared community and function as instruments for collective action in the socially atomized context of the community. This research is important because it will add to the corps of specialists knowledgeable about the Andean region of South America, and advance our understanding of the evolution of unionism and of the community role of peasant unions. Increased understanding of the role of peasant-worker groups with respect to their community and the function of their leaders is important to help us understand the behavior of such groups in contemporary society. This case study will provide a valuable addition to our knowledge which can help us understand similar situations in other developing countries.
