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The Struggle for indigenous rights in Latin America. ed. by Nancy Grey Postero and Leon Zamosc. Sussex Academic , 2004. (Dist. by ISBS), 250p index afp ISBN 1-8451-9006-8, $67.50 . Reviewed in 2005apr CHOICE.
Several recent edited volumes (Susan Stonich, Endangered Peoples of Latin America, 2001; Rachel Sieder, Multiculturalism in Latin America, 2002; Erik Langer, Contemporary Indigenous Movements in Latin America, 2003) have explored contemporary indigenous issues in Latin America. This volume, which evolved from seminars at the University of California, San Diego and Cochabamba, Bolivia, improves on those in terms of the breadth of geographic and thematic coverage and the internal coherence of the essays. Eight authors writing from the perspectives of anthropology, sociology, and political science analyze indigenous struggles in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. The essays provide a quick historical context, but they are written at a sophisticated level and emphasize deeper issues, including indigenous challenges to neoliberal economic policies and participation in electoral politics. The volume argues that in places where indigenous peoples are in the majority, they are demanding equality and participation rather than just autonomy and recognition. The editors' introduction provides valuable conceptual tools for understanding indigenous struggles, their diverse goals, and the ways in which their contexts are shaped by complex interactions between demographic factors, class consciousness, and ethnic identification. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -- M. Becker, Truman State University


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