Bolivia's Radical Tradition: Permanent Revolution in the Andes (review)

In Bolivia's Radical Tradition: Permanent Revolution in the Andes, S. Sándor John painstakingly traces the tumultuous politico-economic history of Bolivia throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. By utilizing an extensive array of sources—ranging from archival materials, photographs, oral histories, and mining work songs—John pieces together a fragmented genealogy that will serve as an illuminating resource for Latinists and other scholars interested in Bolivian labor and political history. John, in particular, pays heed to the distinct—and unusual—role played by the tradition of Trotskyism in the identity formation of political parties, laborers, miners, and student activists in Bolivia.

For John, the singular influence of Trotskyism distinguishes Bolivian social and political movements from those that have taken root elsewhere in Latin and South America. In that sense, the ideological manifestations of, and tensions instigated by, Trotskyism throughout the course of Bolivian history remains the focal point of Bolivia's Radical Tradition. As John himself carefully explicates within the first few pages of the book, several questions drive his meticulous work. For one, how and why did Bolivia become home to one of the most unflagging and militant labor movements in the Western Hemisphere? Second, what does the significance and exigency of Trotskyism in Bolivian politics tell scholars about the particular historical trajectory of Bolivia—a multiethnic country currently led by Evo Morales, the first indigenous president elected by a South American nation-state?

By using such questions as an initial framework and springboard, John uncovers a volatile history marked by and replete with mining insurrections, wars, military coups, and revolutions. The book starts with a recounting of the nascent formation of political parties during the first half of the twentieth century in Bolivia, including the Trotskyites' Revolutionary Workers Party. As John articulates, the disquieting materialization of Trotskyism in Bolivia—and the uneasy shared leadership among early political figures such Aguirre Gainsbourg and Tristán Marot—has served as an uncanny harbinger of the current state of Bolivian politics. Today, splintering and ideological fractures continue to undergird Bolivian society and political life. The book gradually progresses to narrating several key historical moments in Bolivian history, ranging from the 1942 Catavi Mining Massacre to the momentous 1952 National Revolution, which instigated the formation of workers' militias, the nationalization of tin mines, and the enfranchisement of the indigenous majority. However, as John succinctly states, such changes did not culminate in permanent changes benefiting the working class and the poor. Rather, the 1952 revolution served as a temporary salve to deeply ingrained inequalities; indeed, such victories dissipated only twelve years later when a military coup gripped Bolivia. John then intimates the contradictory nature of the Trotskyite tradition in Bolivia: although Trotskyism has served as a powerful current underlying leftist politics, it has also fallen short of accomplishing the grandeur vision of structural and social equality.

As John posits in his brief introduction, Bolivia's Radical Tradition is an arresting work shaped by and spoken through a kaleidoscope of voices: "Interviews are at the heart of this book" (15). To a certain extent, existing archival materials—including correspondences, photographs, and writings—serve to complement the body of oral histories seamlessly interwoven throughout the text. Through hundreds of interviews conducted with former political leaders, labor organizers, student activists, and bystanders of social movements, John's work poignantly embodies the complexities and textures that have given way to Bolivian modern history. Indeed, such voices capture the many stories and lives occluded from official national archives and national narratives. In particular—and perhaps in line with Maurice Halbwach's seminal work regarding community and memory—John privileges the ideology of collective memory. That is, John's work aims to honor and call forth the collective memory of the working class, rather than becoming a repository for or record of individuals' memories. However, John's work does not reveal or speak to the existence of a shared memory among Bolivians...