I am a historian of Latin America and the Caribbean with a particular emphasis on themes such as peasant politics, agrarian reform, rural state formation, nation-building, citizenship, and social movements in Latin America. My first book, Fields of Revolution: Agrarian Reform and Rural State Formation in Bolivia, 1935-1964 examines Bolivian agrarian reform and sees the role that Indians and peasants played in consolidating one of Latin America’s most radical and redistributive reforms. Fields of Revolution was awarded the Socolow-Johnson Book Prize by the Council of Latin American History in 2023 and received an Honorable Mention for the 2022 Alfred B. Thomas Book Award. Additionally, an article related to my research, titled “’Land to Its Original Owners’: Rethinking the Indigenous Politics of the Bolivian Agrarian Reform,” was published in the Hispanic American Historical Review in May 2017.
In spring 2024, New Mexico Press published my co-edited volume The Struggle for Natural Resources: Findings from Bolivian History. This book examines Bolivia’s land and commodity disputes over five centuries, exploring local, regional, national, and transnational dynamics. The book portrays Bolivia’s political struggles over natural resources as enduring processes transcending immediate events. By delving into the Bolivian context, it fosters dialogue and comparison with other regions.
My current research, How Revolutions Travel: Latin American Repercussions of the Bolivian National Revolution (1952–1964) is the first study to analyze the international impact of Bolivia’s National Revolution on neighboring countries. I argue that the revolutionary policies implemented in Bolivia regarding voting rights, land access, and the unionization of indigenous and peasant populations not only reshaped Bolivian society but also challenged the economic and social structures of neighboring nations. This project offers a transnational perspective addressing the gap in understanding how revolutions in one country inspired transformative movements or counter revolutionary forces in others, thus contributing to the diplomatic history of the Global South.
Book
Fields of Revolution: Agrarian Reform and Rural State Formation in Bolivia, 1935-1964 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021).
Articles
“La Revolución nacional de 1952 y sus encrucijadas: de la reforma laboral a la distribución de la tierra” Revista Historia, no. 39 (Oct 2017): 73-98.
“Land to Its Original Owners”: Rethinking the Indigenous Politics of the Bolivian Agrarian Reform.” Hispanic American Historical Review. no. 97.2 (May 2017): 259-296.
“La modernidad esquiva: debates políticos e intelectuales sobre la reforma agraria en Bolivia (1935-1952).” Revista Historia y Cultura, no. 29 (2012): 23-50.
“El otro rostro de América Latina. En diálogo con La emergencia indígena en América Latina, de José Bengoa.” Nueva Sociedad: Democracia y Política en América Latina. Nueva Sociedad, no. 238 (2012): 126-137.
“Repensando la formación de los Distritos Municipales Indígenas.” Revista de Análisis Político (La Paz, Bolivia) 10: 6-23, 2005.
Book Chapters
“Agrarian Reform in Bolivia in the 20th and 21th centuries” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History (August 2018)
“Estudio introductorio: tras los pasos de rebellion en las venas,” (Introductory study to the reedition of Rebellion in the Veins) James Dunkerley, Rebelión en las venas: la lucha politica en Bolivia 1952-1982. La Paz: Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, 2017, 17-40.
“La transformación de lo público y lo privado en Bolivia: una mirada desde el área rural.” In Lo público en la pluralidad: Ensayos desde Bolivia y América Latina, ed. Gonzalo Rojas. La Paz: CIDES, 2015, 293- 314.
“Reforma agraria: Balances, perspectivas y nuevos enfoques” In: Tomo VI: Construcción del Estado y constitución de los actores sociales: 1952-2000. La Paz: Plural, 2014, 225-262.
“Fotografías del pre y post 1952.” In Bolivia en blanco y negro. La Paz: Plural, 2013, 44-51.
“Etnografía de la justicia estatal: La violación como prisma de las relaciones de género.” with Rossana Barragán. In Justicia y diversidad en América Latina. Pueblos indígenas ante la globalización. Edited by Chenaut, Victoria, Magdalena Gómez, et al. Mexico D.F.: CIESAS, FLACSO, 2012.
“Indígenas urbanos: El caso de los aymaras en la ciudad de La Paz y El Alto.” with Rossana Barragán In ¿Indígenas u obreros?: La construcción política de identidades en el altiplano boliviano. Edited by Arnold, Denise, Rossana Barragán, et al. La Paz: UNIR, 2009.
“La violación como prisma de las relaciones sociales y el entramado estatal en el ámbito jurídico. Etnografía y hermenéutica de la justicia.” with Rossana Barragán. In Rompiendo silencios: Una aproximación a la violencia sexual y al maltrato infantil en Bolivia. Edited by Calla, Pamela. La Paz: Plural, 2005.
Podcast
Co-host of the podcast Historias in Spanish with SECOLAS team: https://historiaspodcast.com. Since February 2020 to the present.
Guest Editor
Revista Umbrales: Revista de Posgrado en Ciencias del Desarrollo, N 29, 2015
Book Reviews
Review of Defendiendo el techo fiscal: curacas, ayllus y sindicatos en el Gran Ayllu Macha, Norte de Potosí, Bolivia, 1930-1994, by Tristan Platt. Revista El Rey Desnudo no. 16 (August 2020), 176-183.
Review of El programa indigenista andino 1951-1973: las mujeres en los ensambles estatales del Desarrollo, Mercedes Prieto (author and editor). Revista Íconos no. 63 (2019): 233-235.
Review of Oil and Nation: A History of Bolivia’s Petroleum Sector, by Steven Cote. Bolivian Studies Journal/ Revista de Estudios Bolivianos no. 13 (May 2018) 157-162.
Review of El Estado propone, los carai disponen y los guarayos devienen ciudadanos, 1939–1953: El impacto de la secularización en Guarayos. By Pilar García Jordán. Hispanic American Historical Review no.97 (2017) 564-565.
Review of Rhythms of the Pachakuti: Indigenous Uprising and State Power in Bolivia, by Raquel Gutiérrez. Journal of History: Reviews of New Books no 44 (July 2016) 73-74.
Review of Indians and Leftists in the Making of Ecuador’s Modern Indigenous Movements, by Marc Becker. Boletín del Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos no 39 (2010) 203-205.
Review of Reconfigurando territorios: Reforma agraria, control territorial y gobiernos indígenas en Bolivia, by Fundación Tierra. A Contracorriente no 8 (2010) 551-557.
Education
Ph.D. New York University. History of Latin America. 2014
M.A. Universidad de Salamanca. Political Science. 2007
M.A. Universidad de la Cordillera. Andean Studies. 2004
B.A. Universidad Nuestra Señora de La Paz, Political Science.2002
Courses Taught
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Fall 2014-Spring 2018)
- Colloquium in Modern Latin America (Combined History 6202/ Latin American Studies 6252)
- Bolivia: Past and Present: Spring Break Class organized with Office of Study Abroad (Combined History 3002, Latin American Studies 3002, 5000, 5600)
- History of Modern Latin America (Combined History 2700/ Latin American Studies 2700)
- From Silver to Cocaine: A history of the World Through Commodities (Liberal Studies, Global Connections 2100)
- Popular Politics and Rebellion in Latin America (Combined: History 4600/ Latin American Studies 5600)
Grants and Fellowships
CLAS Junior Faculty Development Award (UNCC) 2017
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), 2015-2016
Faculty Research Grant (FRG), 2015-2016
GSAS Mellon Dissertation Fellowship, 2012-2013
NYU- Global, London (Declined), 2013
SSRC- International Dissertation Research Fellowship, 2010-2011
NYU-CLACS, Tinker Foundation Summer Fellowship, 2009
NYU-CLACS, Tinker Foundation Summer Fellowship, 2008
NYU, Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship, 2007-2013
Universidad de Salamanca, Fundación Carolina, 2005-2006