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Dangl, J. Benjamin

History

2012

MA

This thesis looks at the politics of ritual drinking and celebrations in Bolivia in the years surrounding the country's 1952 National Revolution. This transformative revolution resulted in land reform, nationalization of tin mines, and expanded access to education and healthcare. The years leading up to the revolution were full of popular rebellions against exploitation in the mines and countryside. Of emphasis in this thesis is the way in which indigenous and working class drinking rituals and traditional celebrations contributed to the social movements of this time. It examines the elite's crackdown on popular working class chicha (corn beer) bars in Cochabamba, and the empowering pre-Columbian drinking and coca-sharing rituals in Bolivian mines. These sites of popular indigenous culture in Cochabamba and the rituals in the Bolivian mines both provided avenues for resistance against exploitation and social marginalization. The thesis also explores the ways in which Carnival and similar festivals in Bolivian mining towns strengthened community solidarity and provided a powerful escape from the brutal working world of the mines. Finally, the events and aftermath of the National Revolution are examined, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which the revolution impacted drinking customs, rituals in the mines, and popular celebrations.