Contested Community

Veronika Groke interrogates the concept of the comunidad indigena (indigenous community) in the context of the history and social life of a Guarani community in eastern Bolivia. While this institution is today firmly embedded in Bolivian politics and society, different people and interest groups have varying understandings of its meaning and purpose. By showing the comunidad to be a multifaceted complex of diverging and sometimes competing ideas, desires, and agendas, Groke provides new insight into contemporary political tensions related to culture, identity, and development