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Book Reviews real contribution here is the rich source of interviews, combined with a very comprehensive use of journalistic and secondary sources that make a strong case for the party-movement divide as the primary explanatory factor for the problems that plague the PRD. While the interviews conducted by Mossige provide a welcome contribution to scholarship on the PRD, the book suffers from a few minor flaws. At its core, the book is an in-depth case study of the PRD. However, in-depth case studies often benefit from being more firmly situated within a broader literature. This study does not clearly position itself within the broader literature on left parties in Latin America, general literature on political parties, or even within the scholarship on Mexican political parties . While Mossige’s argument is well made, the reader is left wondering how the problems that plague the PRD compare to Mexico’s other major parties, the PRI and the PAN, or the other major left parties of the region . In addition, one must be aware that the book suffers from numerous grammatical errors and typos that occasionally distract from an otherwise enjoyable read. Mexico’s Left will be of interest to Mexicanists, students of left parties, and scholars of Latin American politics interested in contemporary Mexican politics. For those interested in the study of the pink tide across Latin America, this work is a major contribution that helps explain why Mexico is not among the many other Latin American countries with left-leaning leaders. Moreover, the book itself is an enjoyable and fast-paced read that should be very accessible to specialists and non-specialists alike. Yann Kerevel Department of Political Science Lewis University From the Mines to the Streets: A Bolivian Activist’s Life. By Benjamin Kohl, Linda C. Farthing, and Félix Muruchi: University of Texas Press, 2012, p. 233, $23.39. A highly celebrated phrase of one of Bolivia’s most influential thinkers of last century, René Zabaleta Mercado, is that this country is the portrayal of a multicolored society, or, as he beautifully wrote in Spanish, “una sociedad abigarrada.” This book from the late Benjamin Kohl, together with Linda Farthing and Félix Muruchi, presents precisely that: one of the many colors of this diverse multihued social fabric. Taking advantage of the life of one of its authors, Félix Muruchi, a miner activist and union leader, the authors introduce readers to the world of grassroots activism in Latin America. But this book goes beyond a mere description of events. Félix’ fascinating life-story brings readers back to some of the most conflictive periods in the contemporary history of this country, where human rights violations were a common occurrence in a nation dominated by an 95 The Latin Americanist, June 2015 authoritarian and exclusive oligarchy. In this sense, this book is a solid contribution to Latin American sociopolitical literature and beyond, as it provides a unique historical perspective, incorporating along the way many didactical elements that help readers with the historical context. The different chapters present a chronology of Félix’s tumultuous and intense life, from his rural upbringing as the son of a miner in Potosı́ to his efforts to help consolidate democracy in the late 1990s in the city of El Alto. As part of the narrative, the authors make efforts to incorporate analytical and contextual elements in the form of boxes that accompany the main text. With this writing style the book gains immensely as a didactic tool and makes it very accessible and appealing for readers interested in this topic, including those who have limited background or prior historical knowledge about this country and region. This format also makes this book a potential classroom companion for courses on contemporary sociopolitical issues in Latin America. These references provide a useful view on Bolivia’s complex (and always contested) recent history without breaking the story lines. Evidently, it is challenging to provide a neutral account when these events are presented from a single perspective (in this case Felix’s personal experiences), but the authors make a good effort to supply broad information without being too intrusive. The narrative, however , expands beyond historical accounts...

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