A fragmented sovereignty. Indigenous peoples, war and political change in the process of independence in the Central and Southern Andes (1783-1825)

Kosovych, Silvia Escanilla Huerta

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115886 Copy

Description

Title

A fragmented sovereignty. Indigenous peoples, war and political change in the process of independence in the Central and Southern Andes (1783-1825)

Author(s)

Kosovych, Silvia Escanilla Huerta

Issue Date

2022-07-05

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Jacobsen, Nils

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Jacobsen, Nils

Committee Member(s)

• Crowston, Clare
• Brosseder, Claudia
• Dávila, Walter

Department of Study

History

Discipline

History

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

Indigenous Peoples, Age of Revolutions, War of Independence, Latin American History, Political History, Legal History

Abstract

In “A Fragmented Sovereignty,” I argue that in the geographic space of what is currently Peru and Bolivia, indigenous communities played a significant role in fighting the war of independence that ended Spanish domination in the region. The research radically challenges not only narratives of independence from a national framework of analysis, but also the way the emergence of the nation-state in Latin America has been understood until now. Much of the research on this topic suggests that white creole elites led both processes while other social groups played a secondary role. While a few recent studies do recognize the important role of indigenous people for achieving independence, I demonstrate that indigenous political activism in the form of militias not only helped to consummate the defeat of the royalist forces in the South Andean macro-region, but also was a major factor in defining what sovereignty came to mean after independence. In the post-independence period, indigenous militias had a decisive role in the negotiation over the exercise of power between regional elites until at least 1850. In this negotiation, guerrilla warfare was an integral aspect of an indigenous political vision that understood sovereignty as decentralized in nature. The political instability of the post-independence era should be read under this light. For this reason, it is impossible to understand the construction of the republics of Peru and Bolivia without addressing the fundamental role that indigenous peoples played in their formation. Moreover, my claims broaden our historiographical understanding of the state formation process in Latin America by challenging views of indigenous peoples that present them as backward and anti-modern political actors.

Graduation Semester

2022-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Silvia Escanilla Huerta Kosovych

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