Paper short abstract:

For centuries indigenous communities in the Bolivian Andes have ritually reproduced the fetish of benevolent yet distant government. Canadian mining explorations put this local understanding of the state in jeopardy because the Bolivian government sees fit to engage actively in the ensuing conflicts

Paper long abstract:

With the stroke of a pen the current Bolivian president Evo Morales put an end to the Andean ambitions of the Canadian junior mining company South American Silver. Issuing decree 1308 he reverted to the state the firm's mining concessions and stationed military troops in the region quelling a dispute that had pitted indigenous community against community. The state had never come closer disturbing local experiences of (central) government. The indigenous communities around the Mallku Quta mine had been reproducing the fetish of moral government at least since the 18th century when the indigenous revolutionary Tomás Katari evoked the Spanish King to justify his revolt against the abuses of Andean landlords and local officials. In rituals the indigenous population still generates these perceptions identifying the Bolivian president with the Christian God. Kings and presidents are expected to behave like benevolent yet distant government. However, Evo Morales gets actively involved in the mining conflict of Mallku Quta. He does so convincingly that people start to address him as 'big landlord' Evo representing a cultural disposition with quite different connotations of authority and reciprocity. How far can landlord Evo go before he reaches the limits of government legitimacy as defined by its indigenous fetish? This paper analyses the continuities and shifts of indigenous experiences of the state which are challenged in a major Andean mining conflict.