Decolonizing the state

Indigenous politics and the limits of Bolivian plurinationalism

By: Matthew Doyle

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Hardcover | 1 September 2026

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Hardcover
224 Pages

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23.4 x 15.6 x 1.4

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$214.75

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Decolonizing the state is an ethnographic exploration of the Bolivian Movement for Socialism (MAS) government's project of progressive state-building at the local level. While the MAS aimed to re-found the nation via legal and constitutional reforms aimed at empowering its majority indigenous population and dismantling colonial legacies, after twenty years in office it dramatically lost power. Based on long-term fieldwork in a Quechua-speaking community, this book examines first-hand the complex, often contradictory outcomes of state-led decolonisation. It brings history and ethnography into dialogue with European critical theory, decolonial and indigenous thought to show how colonial state-making shaped Bolivia's political order and continues to constrain transformative change. At a time of growing uncertainty for the Latin American and global Left, Decolonizing the state offers a vital contribution to debates on state power, indigeneity, radical politics, and the practice of decolonisation.

Industry Reviews

'Doyle's compelling ethnography of Indigenous self-governance institutions in highland Bolivia demonstrates the limitations inherent in state-led decolonization projects. He shows how, despite the MAS government's promises to devolve power to local communities, its reforms ultimately destabilized the very communities they sought to empower. Doyle makes a forceful contribution to the literature on colonialism and the state, arguing that meaningful decolonization requires recognizing and amplifying existing forms of self-governance rather than reducing them to bureaucratically legible forms.'
Nancy Postero, Professor of Anthropology at UC San Diego and author of Now we are Citizens and The Indigenous State

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