A History of Organized Labor in Bolivia

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Robert J. Alexander

ISBN: 0-275-97744-7

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-97744-3

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212 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 11/30/2005

List Price: $83.95 (UK Sterling Price: £57.95)

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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The author uses his own experience as a participant-observer since the 1940s to construct an intimate portrait of labor politics; Alexander is especially good at analyzing the various left-of-center political parties in Bolivia. In the bibliography, the author lists interviews with 87 different individuals conducted over five decades. This source material lends the book its unique insider perspective. In addition to the personal feel of Alexander's narrative, the text makes a unique contribution by placing pivotal events into an international context....The interviews collected over a lifetime of research in Latin America are the praise-worthy bedrock of this work....Alexander uses this unique source material to good effect to remind scholars of the critical political role played by the Bolivian working class in the twentieth century.
—Hispanic American Historical Review vol. 87, no. 4

Description: Bolivia was the center stage for one of the most important Latin American social revolutions of the twentieth century, one that occurred amid a sea of tremendous political instability. The expansion of organized labor that occurred during the 1920s was met with multiple government reprisals and was largely curbed by the Chaco War with Paraguay of 1932-1935. Nevertheless, despite being compelled to operate illegally, the labor movement found support in several political parties, the most successful of which was the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, a powerhouse in the miners' federation. Conscious of the remarkable upheavals which punctuated Bolivian history during the twentieth century, Alexander traces the relative successes of Bolivia's labor unions, contextualizing their triumphs and disappointments within the captivating history of Bolivia's tumultuous political scene.

Bolivia was the center stage for one of the most important Latin American social revolutions of the twentieth century, one that occurred amid a sea of tremendous political instability. The expansion of organized labor that occurred during the 1920s was met with numerous government reprisals and was largely curbed by the Chaco War with Paraguay of 1932-1935. Nevertheless, despite being compelled to operate illegally, the labor movement found support in several political parties, the most successful of which was the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, a powerhouse in the miners' federation. Conscious of the remarkable upheavals which punctuated Bolivian history during the twentieth century, Alexander traces the relative successes of Bolivia's labor unions, contextualizing their triumphs and disappointments within the captivating history of Bolivia's tumultuous political scene.

Alexander explains how the labor movement evolved in the framework of several political changes, including:

the brief presidency of Major Gualberto Villarroel which began in December 1943 and lasted only two and a half years;
the Bolivian National Revolution which began on April 9, 1952;
the onset of agrarian reform in 1952;
the overthrow of the revolutionary regime in November 1964

Table of Contents:

Preface
Introduction
Bolivian Organized Labor Before the Chaco War
Unionism From the Chaco War to the Bolivian Revolution
Organized Labor During the Bolivian National Revolution
Organized Labor After the Bolivian National Revolution
Bibliography
Index

About the Author: Robert J. Alexander is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Political Science, Rutgers University. He was a member of John F. Kennedy's Task Force on Latin America where the Alliance for Progress was developed, and he is a former consultant to the American Federation of Labor and the AFL-CIO on Latin American and Caribbean organized labor. One of the country's most respected scholars of Latin American politics and economic affairs, Professor Alexander is the author or editor of forty-five earlier books, most of them focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean, including The Bolivian National Revolution, the first English-language study of that upheaval, and the history of labor and radical movements.

LCC Class: 331


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