Labor and Land Reform across Borders in the 20th-Century Andes

AHA Session 282
Conference on Latin American History 69
Sunday, January 9, 2022: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Napoleon Ballroom B2 (Sheraton New Orleans, 3rd Floor)
Chair:
Elena C. McGrath, Union College
Papers:
The Politics of Port Labor in 20th-Century Peru
Joshua Savala, Rollins College
Making Enemies and Allies: Bolivia’s Foreign Relations, 1952–56
Carmen Soliz, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Comment:
The Audience

Session Abstract

Over the last two years both Peru and Bolivia have faced intense political crises; dramatic political changes, new presidential appointments, and parliamentary turmoil building on long histories of struggle and negotiation between politicians and popular sectors. Despite shared borders, languages, watersheds, mountain ranges, military losses to Chile, and histories of colonization, however, scholars rarely consider the twentieth century histories of these two countries in tandem. In this panel we highlight two topics that are crucial to understanding both Peruvian and Bolivian history: labor and land struggles. In each country, struggles over land tenure and labor rights have formed poles of popular politics that have returned to haunt efforts at reform and revolution again and again. Our papers span the twentieth century, seeking commonalities and counter currents across time and geography. What does taking the long historical view of land and labor in Bolivia and Peru tell us about the contemporary Andes? How are labor politics and land rights crossed by culture, national identity, geography, and violence in these spaces?
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