Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia: A Book by Ben Dangl

Control of land and natural resources determines the economic position of peoples and governments and often creates conflict between these two entities. A privileged, and often foreign, elite has always controlled the natural resources of Bolivia and continues to do so today. But there has always been resistance among the masses who have been exploited as workers and peasants that is culminating in great upheaval today. Their struggle for control of resources and their economic sustainability does not end at the ballot box, where an indigenous and self-proclaimed socialist president was elected. Now more than ever, as the struggle between the central government and the indigenous poor against the separatist elite centered in Santa Cruz who seek to restore control over natural gas resources and wealth heats up, these popular movements are even more politically relevant. The book reviewed in the following piece reveals how social movements in Bolivia participate in the struggle for control of resources and a more equitable distribution of the wealth they generate. -Editor


Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia

Published by AK Press

Source: http://www.boliviabook.com/

New social movements have emerged in Bolivia over the "price of fire"—access to basic elements of survival like water, gas, land, coca, employment, and other resources. Though these movements helped pave the way to the presidency for indigenous coca-grower Evo Morales in 2005, they have made it clear that their fight for self-determination doesn't end at the ballot box. From the first moments of Spanish colonization to today's headlines, The Price of Fire offers a gripping account of clashes in Bolivia between corporate and people's power, contextualizing them regionally, culturally, and historically.

Advance Praise:

"Ben Dangl takes the reader on an unforgettable and inspiring journey through Bolivia and neighboring countries, providing a window on the revolutionary struggles of the poor and dispossessed, and particularly on the resurgence of indigenous resistance and leadership."—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War

"Most Americans know nothing of Bolivia, an ignorance that only plays into the hands of empire. Ben Dangl's book is both informative and inspiring, a cure for the apathy that grows from that ignorance. A must-read for those already interested in solidarity with Latin America and indigenous people."—Tom Hayden, author of The Zapatista Reader and Street Wars

"Ben Dangl has found himself under the skin of the Bolivian freedom struggle: he accurately represents its constraints, its opportunities, and its hopes. On your feet, Bolivia! We're ready to march with you."—Vijay Prashad, author of The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World

"With lively narrative and unpretentious but intelligent analysis...The Price of Fire is not yet another bleak "tell-all" account of globalization, its pages are filled with stories of resistance, struggle and, above all, hope."—Teo Ballvé, editor of the NACLA Report on the Americas and co-editor of Dispatches from Latin America

"With great empathy and lucid prose, Dangl captures the exemplary courage that has put Latin America in the vanguard of the new internationalism and has made it one of the few bright spots on an otherwise dismal global landscape."—Greg Grandin, author of Empire’s Workshop

"I highly recommend this book for working people, students, and radical democrats to hear the voices of South American people and their chronicle of grassroots democratic empowerment."—Peter Phillips, Director of Project Censored