Objetivos Específicos

The fieldwork was carried out through a multi-sited ethnography (Marcus 1986, 1995). This cross-cut binary distinctions of the ‘local’ and the ‘global’ by focusing on specific discourses, practices and events of place-based political action within the wider assemblage of left-indigenous struggles in defence of the TIPNIS (see McFarlane 2009). Davies discusses the problems of doing a multi-sited ethnography of spatially extensive social movements but suggests that ‘it can be enough to attempt to “follow the network” – seeing how people, information and objects are negotiated, translated, accepted and disregarded’ (2009: 24; original emphasis). Although I was not able to be physically present at all activities, events and meetings that acted as important spaces of political articulation, I attempted to engage in both an intensive exploration of particular practices and a geographically extensive investigation following the relations between different actors, movements and organisations within the conflict.

In some senses, fieldwork began from my desk in Glasgow. The decision to study resistance to the road project was taken after a thorough exploration of web-based resources, such as campaign websites, social media and blogs. I then began the process of negotiating access to research participants in Bolivia through email correspondence with relevant academics, organisations and NGO representatives. This was also aimed at finding out ‘what research may be possible within the constraints of access, time, mobility and money available’ (Crang & Cook 2007: 18). Initial tentative emails were sent out to activists that participated in Mesa (Table) 18, an unofficial working group outside of the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. Searches identified Pablo Regalsky, a political geographer and so-called ‘MAS dissident’ who works on issues of identity, class and the state, and Carlos Crespo, a sociologist and

93 activist who coordinates studies on environmental justice. Both academic-activists became key gatekeepers for gaining relevant information regarding Bolivian politics and emerging fields of contentious politics. Despite these important connections, however, one academic respondent informed me that email was not the most effective means of communicating with activists and organisations in Bolivia. Therefore, much of the labour of negotiating access was carried out in the ‘field’. Furthermore, I came to learn the fundamental value of face-to-face interaction for engendering trust and rapport and for negotiating access to the spaces of the TIPNIS conflict.

The valley city of Cochabamba was chosen as the preliminary location for exploring the TIPNIS conflict, as it was the site of the World People’s Conference in 2010 and the Water War of 1999-2000.41 Additionally, Cochabamba plays host to a number of organisations with a strong environmental and social justice focus (Appendix 1). On the 28 September 2011 I arrived into Cochabamba, just three days after the events of La Chaparina. The police repression had catapulted the plight of the indigenous peoples of the TIPNIS to the national stage and resultantly acted to facilitate support from many urban solidarity groups. Consequently, although I had originally intended to spend the first three months studying at a language school, these events made it pertinent to undergo fieldwork straight away. Within the first few weeks I had established contacts with important NGOs based in the city, such as Somos Sur, CENDA (Centro de Comunicacion y Desarrollo Andino; Andean Communication and Development Centre) and CEDIB (Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia; Centre of Bolivian Documents and Information) (Appendix 1).42 NGO representatives provided me with newspaper articles and documents relevant to the conflict. Two of these individuals were also kind enough to speak with me about the reasons why the resistance to the road project had become a national issue laying out the turbulent relationships between the lowland indigenous movement, urban solidarity networks, the cocalero movement, the conservative ‘right’ and the MAS. Having come to study climate justice movements, I found myself undergoing a quick learning curve that

41 _{For more practical reasons, Cochabamba was also chosen as it has a temperate climate and a lower altitude}

than La Paz (and is therefore a good place to acclimatise) and has a number of reputable language schools in which to base myself for the initial three months of the fieldwork.

42 _{During this initial period it was also necessary to convert my specific purpose one-month visa to a}

temporary residence visa. This required a HIV test, proof of a permanent address, bank statements, criminal record checks from Interpol and the Bolivian police, a letter from my supervisors in Glasgow and a letter from a sponsor within a Bolivian academic institution (Carlos Crespo). This was a lengthy and costly process. On 11 November 2011 I received a one-year residency and eventually received my national Carnet de Identidad (Identification Card) in March 2012.

94 quickly highlighted my own naivety of the complex histories of indigenous politics and the state within Bolivia. After six days in the country my field diary read:

What I am beginning to understand if that the issue is not a question of environmental justice but indigenous autonomy and representation within the nation-state. What does it mean to be a plurinational state then? Does it mean both state sovereignty and indigenous autonomy? But clearly the rights of the indigenous are the first to go when pitched against development agendas, something that seems to resonate with people’s collective resentment of their colonial past (field journal entry, 04 October 2011) I was then encouraged by Maria Lohman from the organisation Somos Sur to participate in the government’s Gran Caravana (Grand Caravan) to the southern area of the TIPNIS between 07 and 09 October. This facilitated my apprehension of the discourses mobilised by the MAS in order to gain support for the road project. The Brigada Parlamentaria (Parliamentary Brigade) of assemblymen of Cochabamba invited members of the government, organisations and federations affiliated with the government, social movements and representatives of the media to join in the caravan in order to show the ‘realities’ of the TIPNIS. I introduced myself as a research student but was quickly bracketed with a group of journalists and as part of the ‘prensa internacional’ (international press). Consequently, I was frequently pushed to the front to record interviews with people in the area of Polygon 7 that desire the road. Although the research did not weigh heavily on the narratives and practices of government officials throughout my time in Cochabamba (September 2011 – February 2012), I also observed a government rally in Plaza 14 de Septiembre on 15 October, a gathering of government supporters at a viaduct on the outskirts of the city on 10 December and the CONISUR counter-march through the city centre on 30 December.

After returning from the caravan, I visited CESU (Centro de Estudios Superiores Universitarios; Centre for Higher University Education) to speak to Carlos Crespo who generously offered to introduce me to activists of the Campaña En Defensa Del TIPNIS (Campaign in Defence of TIPNIS). Later that night I met Carlos at the activist hub outside of the San Francisco Church in central Cochabamba and stayed to participate in a protest march through the central calles (streets) that temporarily halted the evening’s busy traffic. I became a regular face at the meetings and protests that took place roughly twice a week, sometimes meeting outside of the church and at other times meeting in an office on Calle Sucre. After a couple of weeks, some of the activists extended an invitation to me to go

95 with them to join the Eighth March in its final stages. We arrived into La Paz on the 18 October and made our way up to La Cumbre (the summit; a shelf that sits 4,700 metres above sea level) by bus. We then joined the marchers in the afternoon’s walk to the final campsite before descending into the capital city the following day. By this point, the march had swelled to roughly 3,000 people, including workers, students, environmentalists and union representatives (Laing 2012). As part of the Eighth March I witnessed the spectacle of support from Bolivian citizens and – on a less positive note – the police barricades around Plaza Murillo where the indigenous marchers made camp. The police restricted the entry of water, food and warm clothing coming into conflict with several urban activists and concerned citizens. In the evening, I also attended a meeting of urban solidarity activists in the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA).

Upon my return to Cochabamba I carried on attending the activities of the Campaña. I also participated in workshops, conferences and public debates about the TIPNIS conflict and related issues, such as resource governance, development models and the role of IIRSA and Brazil. Members of the Campaña invited me to accompany them to a national indigenous meeting held by CIDOB in Santa Cruz between 13 - 15 December. This event became an important space for the urban solidarity movements to come together and discuss the recently set up national campaign, the Coordinadora Nacional de Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (National Coalition of Defence of Natural Resources and the Self-Determination of the People). As a result, I was introduced to activists from Santa Cruz and La Paz, many of whom became important contacts as well as interview participants. In January I also carried out several interviews with key activists and intellectuals in Cochabamba.

Whilst in Cochabamba I met with Tomas Huanca of the TAPS institute (Tsimane Amazonian Panel Study Development Community) who has worked with the TIPNIS communities since 1997. I wanted to assess the possibility of entering the TIPNIS and ask advice about how to negotiate permission from the relevant indigenous authorities. Tomas was pessimistic, however, and told me of another researcher’s yearlong wait to gain clearance. This news was a set back since I had hoped that a journey to the northern part of the park would have helped me reflect on the everyday lives of the people and their cultural practices as well as being able to gain the sensory experience of the biologically diverse region.

96 In February, I relocated to La Paz. Here, I contacted people I had met in Santa Cruz who then facilitated my participation in street protests and activist meetings held in the UMSA. On 10 February 2012 I waited with activists and indigenous representatives from CONAMAQ and CIDOB in Plaza Murillo to hear the government’s announcement of Ley 222 putting the road project back on the agenda. I then went to a meeting of the left- indigenous solidarity network to discuss the news and make plans for future political action. During this time I conducted interviews in La Paz with activists from different groups and movements and visited several NGO organisations to use their library facilities and organise meetings with representatives. I also carried out interviews with a journalist from the Fundación Tierra (Land Foundation) and an investigator for FOBOMADE (Foro Boliviano sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo; Bolivian Forum for Environment and Development).

On 11March 2012 I travelled by plane to the Amazonian city of Trinidad, the capital of Beni, where CIDOB was having a meeting to decide whether they would convoke a further indigenous protest march in defence of the TIPNIS. My presence, as a non-member of CIDOB, was restricted at the initial phases of the meeting. The next day, I attended a press conference by CIDOB, which announced the likelihood of a ninth indigenous march on the condition that the indigenous communities of the TIPNIS were also in accordance with the decision. As such, a brigade was assembled to travel to the community of Gundonovia in the north of the TIPNIS for a meeting of all the corregidores. A select group of urban activists and NGO representatives were also invited as part of the growing left-indigenous alliance. I then travelled by night bus to Santa Cruz where I contacted people I knew through the campaign and they invited me to meetings of CDAPMA (Coordinadora de Defensa de la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos y Medio Ambiente; Coalition of Defence of the Environment and Self-Determination of the People) that were held in an outside eating area at the Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno (UAGRM). During this time I conducted interviews with urban activists from CDAPMA and Mujeres Autoconvocados (Self-Convened Women), a group of professional women that formed in response to the repression at La Chaparina. I also carried out interviews with representatives of CIDOB at their headquarters.

97 On 25 April 2012 I arrived in Trinidad by plane from La Paz to participate in the Ninth March.43 Here I met with a couple of activists from the Cochabamba Campaña that invited me to go with them by motorcycle taxi to the headquarters of the Ninth March. Once there I made myself known to Adolfo Chávez, the President of CIDOB, who I had previously communicated with by telephone. The march was temporarily delayed due to blockades and on 27 April I set off with the other marchers participating for a total of six weeks during which I walked, camped, cooked and lived alongside the indigenous participants and urban activists.

Ultimately, ethnography can be identified ‘as a perspective rather than a means of data collection’ (Brewer 2000: 7). Therefore, I will now turn to the four overlapping methods that formed the grounding of the nine-month research period in Bolivia undertaken between September 2011 and June 2012.44