Papers by Sue A S Iamamoto
Globalizations
This paper offers an interpretation of the ideology expressed by Jair Bolsonaro, current presiden... more This paper offers an interpretation of the ideology expressed by Jair Bolsonaro, current president of Brazil, as a Brazilian far-right neoliberal nationalism, which typically distinguishes between the members of the nation and its traitors and enemies, creating an authoritarian atmosphere of governance combined with the defense of neoliberal values. To establish the bases that sustain this ideology, we investigate four key arenas of his administration – family issues; the anti-left rhetoric; the call for a mixed-race identity; and Brazilian foreign policy. We sustain that Bolsonaro’s discourse, instead of revealing a fragmented political project, actually articulates a powerful and authoritarian image of the Brazilian nation, while also reinforcing the idea of individual entrepreneurship and traditional morality. Although this project is deeply informed by past national ideological traditions, it is also aligned with the expansion of the far right internationally and sheds light to its dynamics in periphery countries.
Revista de Ciências Sociais
Neste artigo, que introduz o dossiê “Ecologia Política: contribuições da América Latina”, expomos... more Neste artigo, que introduz o dossiê “Ecologia Política: contribuições da América Latina”, expomos de maneira ampla as definições desta agenda de pesquisa. Resgatamos a trajetória da ecologia política no mundo e seu desenvolvimento na América Latina, destacando suas particularidades na região, como a incorporação da perspectiva decolonial e um maior engajamento ativista. Identificamos também processos comuns contemporâneos – o avanço do extrativismo, a imposição de projetos desenvolvimentistas à revelia das populações locais, e a resistência de movimentos indígenas, rurais e urbanos à contínua degradação da natureza – que marcam a experiência dos países do nosso continente. Por fim, apresentamos as contribuições que compõem este dossiê, ressaltando seu potencial para a construção de uma ecologia política global diversa e horizontal.
Leviathan (São Paulo), Feb 14, 2018
Seu livro mais recente é Democracy Disfigured: Opinion, Truth and the People (Harvard University ... more Seu livro mais recente é Democracy Disfigured: Opinion, Truth and the People (Harvard University Press, 2014). A revista Leviathan agradece a autora a gentileza de autorizar esta tradução.
Journal of Latin American Geography
The cities of Potosí (Bolivia) and Ouro Preto (Brazil) have played central economic roles during ... more The cities of Potosí (Bolivia) and Ouro Preto (Brazil) have played central economic roles during Latin America's long colonial history of mineral extraction, feeding the Spanish and Portuguese empires with silver (Potosí) and gold (Ouro Preto) and, consequently, changing the world's economy. Based on ethnography, interviews and archival research, in this article we argue that mining in these cities should be understood through the frame of a "difficult heritage" (Macdonald, 2009), incorporating mining's social and environmental atrocities in the official representations of their pasts. We first analyze how the colonial period was depicted in contemporary heritage policies and the role it played in fostering nationalism both in Bolivia and Brazil. Then, we explore how two main issues were excluded from official narratives but remained represented in urban spaces and in local inhabitants' perceptions of them: the environmental impact directly or indirectly caused by mining and the racist violence imposed on African and indigenous peoples to guarantee mass labour for mining enterprises. Today, as contemporary Latin American societies are struggling to reinvent their national selves without reproducing long-standing patterns of race inequalities and extractivism, accounting for the complexity of colonial mining heritage becomes increasingly relevant.
Globalizations, 2021
This paper offers an interpretation of the ideology expressed by Jair Bolsonaro, current presiden... more This paper offers an interpretation of the ideology expressed by Jair Bolsonaro, current president of Brazil, as a Brazilian far-right neoliberal nationalism, which typically distinguishes between the members of the nation and its traitors and enemies, creating an authoritarian atmosphere of governance combined with the defense of neoliberal values. To establish the bases that sustain this ideology, we investigate four key arenas of his administration – family issues; the anti-left rhetoric; the call for a mixed-race identity; and Brazilian foreign policy. We sustain that Bolsonaro’s discourse, instead of revealing a fragmented political project, actually articulates a powerful and authoritarian image of the Brazilian nation, while also reinforcing the idea of individual entrepreneurship and traditional morality. Although this project is deeply informed by past national ideological traditions, it is also aligned with the expansion of the far right internationally and sheds light to its dynamics in periphery countries.
Journal of Latin American Geography, 2019
The cities of Potosí (Bolivia) and Ouro Preto (Brazil) have played central economic roles during ... more The cities of Potosí (Bolivia) and Ouro Preto (Brazil) have played central economic roles during Latin America's long colonial history of mineral extraction, feeding the Spanish and Portuguese empires with silver (Potosí) and gold (Ouro Preto) and, consequently, changing the world's economy. Based on ethnography, interviews and archival research, in this article we argue that mining in these cities should be understood through the frame of a "difficult heritage" (Macdonald, 2009), incorporating mining's social and environmental atrocities in the official representations of their pasts. We first analyze how the colonial period was depicted in contemporary heritage policies and the role it played in fostering nationalism both in Bolivia and Brazil. Then, we explore how two main issues were excluded from official narratives but remained represented in urban spaces and in local inhabitants' perceptions of them: the environmental impact directly or indirectly caused by mining and the racist violence imposed on African and indigenous peoples to guarantee mass labour for mining enterprises. Today, as contemporary Latin American societies are struggling to reinvent their national selves without reproducing long-standing patterns of race inequalities and extractivism, accounting for the complexity of colonial mining heritage becomes increasingly relevant.
Revista Cadernos de Campo, 2017
resumo Neste artigo, apresentamos um debate sobre a relação entre gêne-ro e trabalho de campo, fo... more resumo Neste artigo, apresentamos um debate sobre a relação entre gêne-ro e trabalho de campo, formulado a partir de nossas experiências na Bolívia e buscando consolidar uma crítica ao machismo na academia. Com trajetórias disciplinares distintas (antropologia, ciência política, relações internacionais e sociologia), apresentamos relatos sobre como ser mulher marcou diversos momentos da nossa pesquisa, desde escolhas de lugares nos quais trabalhar e nossos acompanhantes durante o campo a que fontes iríamos consultar. O ponto central deste trabalho é o entendimento de que a suposta "neutralidade acadêmica" vigente, que tem o masculino como norma, ignora o assédio e a violência sexual como problemas do campo e da produção acadêmica como um todo, isolando-os como problemas da mulher. Pretendemos, assim, contri-buir com o desenvolvimento de um léxico comum que permita a outras mu-lheres pesquisadoras abordar suas problemáticas em campo sem se sentirem menos capazes ou marcadas por sentimentos de culpa e vergonha. palavras-chave trabalho de campo, gênero, machismo, Bolívia, pesquisa-doras mulheres. * Participamentos igualmente da elaboração do texto, no processo de coautoria com prazeres e ensinamentos. Seguindo um costume feminista, nossos nomes aparecem em ordem de idade.
Revista Boliviana de Investigación, 2018
Este dossier es resultado de la construcción de un espacio interdisciplinario de diálogo sobre el... more Este dossier es resultado de la construcción de un espacio interdisciplinario de diálogo sobre el territorio en Bolivia en el simposio “Territorio, frontera y espacialidad en Bolivia ayer y hoy: Flujos, prácticas e identidades entre el Estado y la sociedad”, del ix Congreso de la Asociación de Estudios Bolivianos, que tuvo lugar en la ciudad de Sucre, en julio del 2017. Nosotras, que coordinamos este volumen y el simposio, somos un grupo de investigadoras basadas en la academia brasileña y británica, pero buscamos con esta iniciativa fomentar diálogos entre investigadores de Bolivia y otros países.
Neste artigo, apresentamos um debate sobre a relação entre gênero e trabalho de campo, formulado ... more Neste artigo, apresentamos um debate sobre a relação entre gênero e trabalho de campo, formulado a partir de nossas experiências na Bolívia e buscando consolidar uma crítica ao machismo na academia. Com trajetórias disciplinares distintas (antropologia, ciência política, relações internacionais e sociologia), apresentamos relatos sobre como ser mulher marcou diversos momentos da nossa pesquisa, desde escolhas de lugares nos quais trabalhar e nossos acompanhantes durante o campo a que fontes iríamos consultar. O ponto central deste trabalho é o entendimento de que a suposta " neutralidade acadêmica " vigente, que tem o masculino como norma, ignora o assédio e a violência sexual como problemas do campo e da produção acadêmica como um todo, isolando-os como problemas da mulher. Pretendemos, assim, contribuir com o desenvolvimento de um léxico comum que permita a outras mulheres pesquisadoras abordar suas problemáticas em campo sem se sentirem menos capazes ou marcadas por sentimentos de culpa e vergonha. palavras-chave trabalho de campo, gênero, machismo, Bolívia, pesquisadoras mulheres.
Civitas, 2017
This article investigates how the neighbourhood movement of the city of El Alto, a key social mov... more This article investigates how the neighbourhood movement of the city of El Alto, a key social movement in contemporary Bolivia, depicted and constructed ideas of development during the protests of October 2003, the so-called " Gas War ". Their perspective was both informed by transnational ideologies —such as progress, modernisation and development— and the deeply rooted collective memory of the War of the Pacific. Differently from other nationalist experiences, this " looking back to move forwards " movement sought to re-stablish a balance of powers, instead of promoting group superiority. This emphasis on equality brings possibilities of dialogue with the emerging development paradigm of vivir bien (living well). This paper, thus, contributes to a more general discussion on the conflict between developmentalism and vivir bien in Latin America. Instead of quickly dismissing this new paradigm as being too normative and distant from the realities of poor people, it identifies the potential encounters between them.
This piece investigates the narratives that the actors of the mobilisations in 2003 — both in the... more This piece investigates the narratives that the actors of the mobilisations in 2003 — both in the urban context, in the city of El Alto, and in the countryside, in the province of Omasuyos — have enacted to explain their struggle. What sort of perspective(s) on development do they express in their accounts? How much of them can actually be related to a vivir bien formulation, which emphasises the importance of living in harmony with nature and with the community? By investigating these issues in people’s actual perception of their struggle, this piece attempts to cast light on processes that mediate between the empirical and the normative dimensions of development.
Short piece that analyses the understandings of collective memory in the Bolivian intellectual tr... more Short piece that analyses the understandings of collective memory in the Bolivian intellectual tradition - particularly by Silvia Rivera and René Zavaleta - and discusses possible further developments of its use to comprehend contemporary social movements in the country.
This article analyses the documents on “vision of country”, exposed by political groups that part... more This article analyses the documents on “vision of country”, exposed by political groups that participated in the Bolivian constituent assembly in 2007. On one hand, right-wing groups hold a liberal and statist political order ideal, which does not need to identify its roots in Bolivian history and society, with a vision of nation that is passive and subject to state legality. On the other, left- wing groups defend active political collectivities, which act through or despite the state. In spite of the solid “decolonizing” ideology, the left-wing block, majoritarian and representative of the government, is marked by internal tensions. The positions regarding the nation and the state indicate contradictory expectations: if some seek to consolidate the former and to domesticate the latter, for others these spheres represent parallel entities, with which policies are negotiated. The study concludes that consensual concepts of the left, such as plurinationality, represent possible agreements, but are loaded with future disputes, and that the constituent assembly would be better understood as an encounter of antagonisms, in which opposing groups build their projects in the countermeasure of the other.
This book covers the period between 2000 and 2009, researching projects of the Bolivian nation am... more This book covers the period between 2000 and 2009, researching projects of the Bolivian nation among social movements and political groups. Its empirical research is an analysis of the papers on "vision of country" (visión de pais) presented by each of the 16 political groups present in the Bolivian Constituent Assembly. Originally, it was a master dissertation from the Politics Department in the University of São Paulo, defended in 2011. It was translated to Spanish by Patricia Costas Monje and it was published by Sifde (OEP/TSE) in Bolivia in 2013.
Final work submitted to obtain my BA in Social Communication (Journalism) at the University of Sã... more Final work submitted to obtain my BA in Social Communication (Journalism) at the University of São Paulo in 2008. It's a long journalistic piece on peasant and indigenous movements in Bolivia (Omasuyos, Chapare and north of Santa Cruz department). Fieldwork was carried out between 2007 and 2008.
Other by Sue A S Iamamoto
This thesis focuses on how collective memories appeared during social mobilisation in Bolivia and... more This thesis focuses on how collective memories appeared during social mobilisation in Bolivia and how they helped social activists to make sense of their struggle and to build a sense of cohesion around it. Two very distinct moments of social struggles are studied: those of September and October 2003 in the province of Omasuyos and the city of El Alto, and that of July and August 2010 in the city of Potosí. The work is based on 70 semi-structured interviews with local activists from the three areas, as well as archival research, particularly from newspapers, and participant observation in public spaces: demonstrations, marches, assemblies, workshops, commemorative ceremonies and local rites.
The thesis is structured in three parts, each dedicated to one of the areas and to one main collective memory. Part I covers the struggle in Omasuyos province during the ‘Gas War’ and the memory of the anti-colonial rebellion of Tupac Katari (1781). Part II is dedicated to the mobilisation in the city of El Alto in the same period and to the memory of the War of the Pacific (1879) and the lost seacoast. Part III focuses on the civic strike in Potosí in 2010 and on the memory of the rise and fall of the “glorious” colonial Imperial City of Potosí.
Collective memories depicted in this study served as platforms to express the demands of contemporary social struggles, and were particularly powerful because they contained a combination of the following elements. They presented a simplified prototypical story of imbalance, with just and unjust characters (normally identified as the activists and the state), which could be easily projected into familiar spaces and displayed corporal metaphors reproducing the effect of trauma. This narrative has often experienced a path-dependent continuous remembering through history (fed by official nationalism and oppositional movements) and turns out to be both constitutive and instrumental for the activists claiming it. Thus, this work avoids the understanding of collective memories as “latent” or as expressions of “collective unconscious” and makes a contribution to the study of the politics of memory and the mechanisms that explain the strength of storytelling during collective action.
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Papers by Sue A S Iamamoto
Other by Sue A S Iamamoto
The thesis is structured in three parts, each dedicated to one of the areas and to one main collective memory. Part I covers the struggle in Omasuyos province during the ‘Gas War’ and the memory of the anti-colonial rebellion of Tupac Katari (1781). Part II is dedicated to the mobilisation in the city of El Alto in the same period and to the memory of the War of the Pacific (1879) and the lost seacoast. Part III focuses on the civic strike in Potosí in 2010 and on the memory of the rise and fall of the “glorious” colonial Imperial City of Potosí.
Collective memories depicted in this study served as platforms to express the demands of contemporary social struggles, and were particularly powerful because they contained a combination of the following elements. They presented a simplified prototypical story of imbalance, with just and unjust characters (normally identified as the activists and the state), which could be easily projected into familiar spaces and displayed corporal metaphors reproducing the effect of trauma. This narrative has often experienced a path-dependent continuous remembering through history (fed by official nationalism and oppositional movements) and turns out to be both constitutive and instrumental for the activists claiming it. Thus, this work avoids the understanding of collective memories as “latent” or as expressions of “collective unconscious” and makes a contribution to the study of the politics of memory and the mechanisms that explain the strength of storytelling during collective action.
The thesis is structured in three parts, each dedicated to one of the areas and to one main collective memory. Part I covers the struggle in Omasuyos province during the ‘Gas War’ and the memory of the anti-colonial rebellion of Tupac Katari (1781). Part II is dedicated to the mobilisation in the city of El Alto in the same period and to the memory of the War of the Pacific (1879) and the lost seacoast. Part III focuses on the civic strike in Potosí in 2010 and on the memory of the rise and fall of the “glorious” colonial Imperial City of Potosí.
Collective memories depicted in this study served as platforms to express the demands of contemporary social struggles, and were particularly powerful because they contained a combination of the following elements. They presented a simplified prototypical story of imbalance, with just and unjust characters (normally identified as the activists and the state), which could be easily projected into familiar spaces and displayed corporal metaphors reproducing the effect of trauma. This narrative has often experienced a path-dependent continuous remembering through history (fed by official nationalism and oppositional movements) and turns out to be both constitutive and instrumental for the activists claiming it. Thus, this work avoids the understanding of collective memories as “latent” or as expressions of “collective unconscious” and makes a contribution to the study of the politics of memory and the mechanisms that explain the strength of storytelling during collective action.