University of Calgary Press

Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Proclaiming Revolution: Bolivia in Comparative Perspective Institute of Latin American

Studies, University of London/David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies by
Merilee Grindle; Pilar Domingo
Review by: Eric Hershberg
Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études
latino-américaines et caraïbes, Vol. 30, No. 59 (2005), pp. 206-208
Published by: University of Calgary Press on behalf of Canadian Association of Latin American and
Caribbean Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41800258 .
Accessed: 18/06/2014 15:44

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

University of Calgary Press and Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies are
collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Canadian Journal of Latin American and
Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:44:21 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
206 CJLACS/RCELAC 30/59 2005

Merilee Grindleand Pilar Domingo, editors

Proclaiming Revolution: Bolivia in Comparative Perspective
Instituteof Latin AmericanStudies,Universityof London/
David RockefellerCenterforLatin AmericanStudies
Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversityPress, 2003, xiv + 424 pp.
Eric Hershberg, PrincetonUniversityand Social Science Research Council

Hardlyany festivitiesmarkedthefiftieth anniversaryof theBolivian Revo-

lution,a strikingsilence thatprovides the point of departureforMerilee
Grindle's introduction to thisthoughtfuland carefullyedited collection of
essays by scholars fromBolivia, the United States, and the United King-
dom. Their nuanced interpretations of the origins,impact,and legacies of
the events thatunfoldedin April 1952 enable readers to understandhow
such an apparentlypivotal eventin a nation's historycould pass relatively
unnoticedby contemporarypublic opinion. The Revolution delivered on
farfewerof itspromisesthanits protagonistsmighthave imaginedin their
more idealistic moments,or than recentgenerationsof Bolivians would
justifiablywish. Bolivia's povertyrates continueto exceed those of any
otherSouthAmericanRepublic, and authoritarian and clientelistpractices
oftenintensifiedratherthan diminished in the aftermathof the MNR's
(MovimientoNacionalista Revolucionario) triumph.Today, still bereftof
effectiveand broadly legitimateinstitutions, Bolivia is rifewith conflicts
thatthreatento renderit ungovernableby any of its competingfactions.
Contributorsto thisbook contend,nonetheless,thatthe 1952 Revolu-
tion had transformative and, in many respects,positive impactson Boliv-
ian society.Their analyses highlightnumerousways in which the Revolu-
tion freedBolivia fromimportantconstraintsof its past while settingin
trainsocial and political dynamicsthatshaped the nation's trajectoryfor
theensuinghalfcentury. Readersofthisvolumewill likelyconclude,moreo-
ver, thatsome of the more promisingfeaturesof the contemporaryland-
scape in Bolivia- isolatedpocketsof economic dynamismand recordhigh
levels of primaryschool enrolment,to cite but two examples- are at least
indirectlyattributableto the Revolutionand its aftermath.
Aside fromthe clear and cogent introductory and conclusion essays,
writtenrespectivelyby editorsGrindle and Domingo, the book's 13 core
chaptersare divided into fourcohesive sections. First,threechaptersex-
plore thedegreeto whichwhattook place in Bolivia in 1952 can indeed be
classifiedappropriatelyas a revolution.Drawing on thecomparativelitera-
tureon thetopic,LaurenceWhiteheadestablishespersuasivelythattheMNR

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:44:21 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Reviews/Recensions 207

triumphmeetstherequisitecriteria:its decisive defeatof theoligarchyand

its success- highlyunusual forLatin America- in imposinga meaningful
and enduringagrarianreformstand out as especially significantachieve-
ments.Subsequent essays in this section situatethe 1952 upheaval in the
contextof twentieth-century Latin America- Alan Knight's comparison
withthe Mexican Revolutionis a splendidread- and considerthevarious
factorsthatmotivatedtheUS governmentto assume a less aggressivecoun-
ter-reformistposturein Bolivia thanit did elsewherein thehemisphere.
The remainingthreesections clusteressays thatshare a common tem-
poral focus. Thus, fournicely craftedcontributionsby historiansanalyze
the Revolution's roots in Bolivia's past and consider the degree to which
1952 constituteda qualitativebreak fromestablishedtrajectoriesof nation
buildingand identity formation.These chaptersalso introduceseveralthemes
thatresonate powerfullyfor observersof contemporaryBolivian reality:
strugglesto democratizeaccess to basic education,to articulatehighlylo-
calized expressionsof collective identity, or to situateBolivia vis-à-visthe
larger Latin American and international contexts turnout to have been as
significantduring the decades priorto the 1952 Revolution as theyare un-
der vastlydifferent circumstancestoday.
The impact of the Revolution on Bolivia's subsequenthalf centuryof
developmentis the focus of a thirdsection of the book. Addressingeco-
nomic performance,social structure,and educational reform,these three
chapterscomplementone anothernicely,even while reaching somewhat
contrastingconclusions. The noted Bolivian economistJuanAntonio Mo-
rales offersa scathingassessment of the economic legacy of the Revolu-
tion,which he sees not only as having failed to overcome povertyand in-
equality, but also as having bequeathed a culture of paternalism and
dependencythatleftthe countryunpreparedto competein an environment
ofunprecedentedeconomicintegration. Nonetheless,as HerbertKlein docu-
mentsin his evaluationof social change duringthesecond halfof thetwen-
tiethcentury,Bolivia did manage to eke out substantialgains in livingcon-
ditions,if not inequalities,and in this as in otherrespects,does not differ
dramaticallyfromthe continentas a whole.
The concluding section considers a series of pending issues, encom-
passing thepolitical system,policy-makingprocesses, and theongoingyet
insufficientlystudiedinnovationsdesignedto fostermoreparticipatory ap-
proaches to governancein Bolivia. Here as elsewhere in the book, the au-
thorsdraw on a wealth of knowledge of Bolivian affairsand engagement
with the broader social science literatureto interpretcomplex processes
thatare invariablyin flux.They are not hesitantto shed lighton meaning-
ful signs of progress where these are evident. Nonetheless, Eduardo

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:44:21 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
208 CJLACS/RCELAC 30/59 2005
Gamarra's perceptiveaccount of the obstacles to effectivepolitical repre-
sentationand stable governancestandsout,ultimately,as highlypessimis-
tic. His is a soberingreminderthat,however ambitiousthe aspirationsof
Bolivians who made therevolution50 years ago, thetasks facingtheirde-
scendantsare, if anything,more daunting.

Eric Van Young

The Other Rebellion: Popular Violence, Ideology, and the Mexican
Struggle for Independence, 1810-1821
Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 2001, xvii + 702 pp.
ChristonI. Archer, Universityof Calgary

Those readerstemptedto complain about the lengthof Van Young's revi-

sioniststudyof the Mexican Independenceepoch mightrecall thatLucas
Alamán needed fivevolumes,Carlos Maria Bustamantethreevolumes,and
Juliode Zárate an even longer810 pages to cover thesame topic.Of course,
theseearlierauthorswroteabout the"origiňal"rebellionculminatingin the
Warof Independencein New Spain fromapproachesand perspectivesquite
different fromthose of Van Young. Althoughtheytouchedupon elements
of the "otherrebellion" (thatis, the popular strugglesencompassinga di-
verse set of actorsand demandsin theruralareas), theyfocusedmuchmore
on thepatriotand royalistleadership,thecreole politicalmachinations,and
thebroaderimplicationsof rebellionviewed fromthemilitary, urban,cen-
tral,and imperialperspectives.
For uninitiatedreaders,Van Young's studymay be challenging.How-
ever,thebook offersa bold and complex studyof rebellionat thelocal and
districtlevels, presentingreaderswith the raw materialsneeded to deter-
mine what motivatedvillage people to rebel. What emergesis a strikingly
different interpretationwhose novel conclusions will influencefuturere-
searchon the Independenceepoch of New Spain.
From the depthof archival sources drawnupon and the natureof the
argumentspresented,it is obvious thatVan Young spent years grappling
withvillage records,criminaland civil cases, and an enormousvolume of
detailed dispatches and correspondenceby militaryofficials,clergymen,
districtadministrators, and ordinarypeople. In many districts,the origins
of unrestwere murky,convoluted,and had muchto do withland issues, the
success or failureof harvests,and the roles of the village cura (curate) in

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:44:21 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions