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The Tipnis Conflict: Sovereignty, Development, And Indigenous Resistance In Bolivia, Stefanie Wickstrom

Political Science Faculty Scholarship

This paper introduces readers to conflict during the presidency of Juan Evo Morales Ayma over construction of a highway through the Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS) in Bolivia. The Morales government is pursuing the highway project that will facilitate local development tied to the capitalist world-system and serve as a segment of a transcontinental system giving Brazil access to ports on the Pacific Ocean, thereby making engagement in the capitalist world-economy by regional South American power blocs more profitable and enhancing Bolivia’s economic and political status internationally. This development is made possible by the exercise of state …