Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia
This essay argues that those strategies enabling the recognition and distinction of the elite in Bolivia have collapsed since Evo Morales assumed the country’s presidency in early 2006. Not only have new political elites taken power, the established and inherited societal stratifications have also b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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CEDLA
2009-04-01
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| Series: | European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.erlacs.org/articles/10.18352/erlacs.9613/ |
| _version_ | 1818241904772382720 |
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| author | Ton Salman |
| author_facet | Ton Salman |
| author_sort | Ton Salman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay argues that those strategies enabling the recognition and distinction of the elite in Bolivia have collapsed since Evo Morales assumed the country’s presidency in early 2006. Not only have new political elites taken power, the established and inherited societal stratifications have also been affected. Reviewing three emergent groups potentially occupying new elite positions – the progressive blanco-mestizos, the wealthy urban indigenous sectors, and the social movement leaders with their politicized cadres – it is argued that in today’s Bolivia, the political dimensions of anti-elitism have raided the traditional material and culturalsymbolic domains of elite distinction. The political dimensions of anti-elitism might have altered or even largely disqualified the indicators traditionally considered valid in the material and culturalsymbolic domains. Resumen: A la búsqueda de status: las nuevas élites en la nueva BoliviaEn este ensayo se sostiene que en Bolivia las estrategias que permiten el reconocimiento y prestigio de las élites se han derrumbado desde que Evo Morales asumiera la presidencia del país a principios de 2006. No solamente nuevas élites políticas han asumido el poder, sino además se han visto afectadas las estratificaciones sociales establecidas. En la revisión de tres grupos emergentes que ocuparán potencialmente las posiciones de la nueva élite – los mestizos blancos progresistas, los sectores indígenas urbanos ricos y los líderes de movimientos sociales con sus cuadros politizados –, aquí se sostiene que en la Bolivia de hoy las dimensiones políticas del anti-elitismo se han apropiado del material tradicional y los dominios culturales y simbólicos de las distinciones de élite. Las dimensiones políticas del anti-elitismo pueden haber alterado e incluso descalificado en gran parte los indicadores considerados tradicionalmente válidos en los dominios material y simbólico-cultural. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:36:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4235bdb04a1a49a4a510f80ac391f4ca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1879-4750 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:36:45Z |
| publishDate | 2009-04-01 |
| publisher | CEDLA |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-4235bdb04a1a49a4a510f80ac391f4ca2022-12-22T00:22:56ZengCEDLAEuropean Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies1879-47502009-04-010869710510.18352/erlacs.96139357Searching for Status: New Elites in the New BoliviaTon Salman0VU University AmsterdamThis essay argues that those strategies enabling the recognition and distinction of the elite in Bolivia have collapsed since Evo Morales assumed the country’s presidency in early 2006. Not only have new political elites taken power, the established and inherited societal stratifications have also been affected. Reviewing three emergent groups potentially occupying new elite positions – the progressive blanco-mestizos, the wealthy urban indigenous sectors, and the social movement leaders with their politicized cadres – it is argued that in today’s Bolivia, the political dimensions of anti-elitism have raided the traditional material and culturalsymbolic domains of elite distinction. The political dimensions of anti-elitism might have altered or even largely disqualified the indicators traditionally considered valid in the material and culturalsymbolic domains. Resumen: A la búsqueda de status: las nuevas élites en la nueva BoliviaEn este ensayo se sostiene que en Bolivia las estrategias que permiten el reconocimiento y prestigio de las élites se han derrumbado desde que Evo Morales asumiera la presidencia del país a principios de 2006. No solamente nuevas élites políticas han asumido el poder, sino además se han visto afectadas las estratificaciones sociales establecidas. En la revisión de tres grupos emergentes que ocuparán potencialmente las posiciones de la nueva élite – los mestizos blancos progresistas, los sectores indígenas urbanos ricos y los líderes de movimientos sociales con sus cuadros politizados –, aquí se sostiene que en la Bolivia de hoy las dimensiones políticas del anti-elitismo se han apropiado del material tradicional y los dominios culturales y simbólicos de las distinciones de élite. Las dimensiones políticas del anti-elitismo pueden haber alterado e incluso descalificado en gran parte los indicadores considerados tradicionalmente válidos en los dominios material y simbólico-cultural.http://www.erlacs.org/articles/10.18352/erlacs.9613/elitesBoliviastatuspoliticssocial distinctionélitespolíticaprestigio social |
| spellingShingle | Ton Salman Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies elites Bolivia status politics social distinction élites política prestigio social |
| title | Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia |
| title_full | Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia |
| title_fullStr | Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia |
| title_short | Searching for Status: New Elites in the New Bolivia |
| title_sort | searching for status new elites in the new bolivia |
| topic | elites Bolivia status politics social distinction élites política prestigio social |
| url | http://www.erlacs.org/articles/10.18352/erlacs.9613/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tonsalman searchingforstatusnewelitesinthenewbolivia |