23 - Bolivia

Summary

general surveys

There are several general histories of Bolivia which cover the period 1880–1932, notably Alcides Argüedas, Historia general de Bolivia (La Paz, 1922); Enrique Finot, Nueva historia de Bolivia (Buenos Aires, 1946); and Jorge Basadre, Perú, Chile y Bolivia independientes (Barcelona, 1948). A more recent and detailed study is Herbert S. Klein, Parties and Political Change in Bolivia, 1880–1932 (Cambridge, Eng., 1968). Much of the recent research on the social and economic history of the period is summarized in Herbert S. Klein, Bolivia, the Evolution of a Multi-ethnic Society, 2nd ed. (New York, 1991), while a useful comparative framework is provided in Magnus Mörner, The Andean Past: Land, Societies and Conflict (New York, 1985). An alternative vision of national history is attempted in Xavier Albó and Josep M. Barnadas, La cara campesina de nuestra historia (La Paz, 1984). A fundamental bibliographical survey worth consulting is Josep M. Barnadas, Manual de bibliografía: Introduction a los estudios bolivianos contempordneos, 1960–1984 (Cuzco, 1987).

Among more specialized works, Luis Penaloza is re-writing his Historia económica de Bolivia, 2 vols. (La Paz, 1953–4); and both this older work and his Nueva historia económica de Bolivia (La Paz, 1985–), a proposed 9-volume survey, give a reasonable though limited introduction to the field. More schematic, but with important retrospective statistical data, is Eduardo Arze Cuadros, La economía de Bolivia…1492–1919 (La Paz, 1979). A general survey of organized labor in Bolivian history is provided in Guillermo Lora, History of the Bolivian Labour Movement, 1848–1971 (Cambridge, Eng., 1977).