Indigenous Identity, Natural Resources, and Contentious Politics in Bolivia

Abstract

How do natural resources and ethnic identity interact to incite or to mitigate social conflict? This article argues that high-value natural resources can act as an important catalyst for the politicization of ethnic, specifically indigenous identity, and contribute to social conflict as they limit the malleability of identity frames and raise the stakes of confrontations. We test this argument using unique sub-national data from Bolivian provinces. Drawing on Bolivian newspaper reports, we code conflict events for all of the 112 provinces from 2000 to 2011. We join this conflict data with information on local ethnic composition from the census, the political representation of ethnic groups at the national level, as well as geo-spatial information on gas deposits. Using time-series cross-sectional count models, we show a significant conflict-promoting effect of the share of indigenous people in provinces with gas reserves, but not without.

Willingness to protest over resource extraction in Latin America

“…Some studies examine the relationship between mineral wealth and conflicts (Arce & Hendricks, 2019;Arellano-Yanguas, 2010). Other studies explore the relationship between geo-referenced extractive areas and conflicts (Haslam & Tanimoune, 2015;Mähler & Pierskalla, 2015). Together, these studies confirm the extraction-conflict nexus.…”

“…Much of the existing literature examines the variation of resource conflicts cross-nationally (Arce & Miller, 2016;Arce et al, 2018;Haslam & Tanimoune, 2015) and sub-nationally (Arce & Hendricks, 2019;Arellano-Yanguas, 2010;Mähler & Pierskalla, 2015;Ponce & McClintock, 2014;Orihuela et al, 2019). Some studies examine the relationship between mineral wealth and conflicts (Arce & Hendricks, 2019;Arellano-Yanguas, 2010).…”

The determinants of low-intensity intergroup violence

“…Establishing (and asserting) control of contested territory is expected to bring benefits for the ethnic ingroup, which vary across contexts. For example, in some places territorial dominance can imply access to scarce material benefits such as jobs, housing, or even natural resources, while in others dominance can bring electoral advantage in the long term, and control of decisionmaking concerning public budget and policy (Olzak, Shanahan & McEneaney, 1996;Esteban & Ray, 2008;Field et al, 2008;Cunningham & Weidmann, 2010;Amodio & Chiovelli, 2014;Mähler & Pierskalla, 2015). In other contexts, such as Northern Ireland, competition over territorial control mostly involves not only enhancing individual physical safety but also collective security by establishing areas where groups can safely express their identity, symbols, and traditions (Bollens, 2000;Toft, 2003Toft, , 2014.…”

Oilfields, Mosques and Violence: Is There a Resource Curse in Xinjiang?

“… 12 For instance, Hunziker and Cederman 2017; Morelli and Rohner 2014; Østby, Nordås and RØd 2009. A few studies focusing on within-country analysis of resources and violence are Dube and Vargas (2013) and Mähler and Pierskalla (2015). …”