political participation of indigenous amazonians in peru

242 Pages·2010·2.98 MB·English

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS AMAZONIANS IN PERU:
THE CASE OF THE SHIPIBO-KONIBOS

A DISSERTATION

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES

AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES

OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Miguel Walter Hilario

May 2010
© 2010 by Miguel Walter Hilario. All Rights Reserved.

Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/

This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/fs656wp8213

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I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate
in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
William Durham, Primary Adviser
I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate
in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Dominique Irvine
I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate
in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Terry Karl
Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies.
Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education
This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in
electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in
University Archives.
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Abstract:

This study uses theories from anthropology, political science, and sociology, together
with an international law framework, to understand the political participation of the
Shipibo-Konibos, indigenous Amazonians of eastern Peru. It explains why Peru’s native
peoples do not follow the generic sequence of indigenous social movements in Latin
America in their quest for rights of self-determination.
Using an original case study of the Shipibo-Konibo nation, including analyses of
the historical record and of data collected using anthropological field methods, I argue:
(i) that the politics of equal interaction is a better analytical model than identity politics
for understanding indigenous political participation in Peru; (ii) that colonization has
weakened Shipibo-Konibo’s cultural, social and political customs and their spirit of
resistance, resulting in their systematic co-optation by the state, which hindered their
autonomous organizational development; (iii) that despite several decades of political
activity, the Shipibo-Konibo have not achieved a bona fide social movement (one that is
continuous and systematic), but rather have engaged in repeated discrete campaigns or
"waves" of social mobilization; (iv) that Shipibo-Konibo identity has been weakened by
an array of forces acting over time, and this weakening partially explains the lack of
advancement from mobilization to genuine movement; (v) that the new political process
of the Shipibo-Konibos — namely, participation in municipal elections — is paradoxical
in the sense that they have not yet implemented an indigenous agenda in municipal
politics; (vi) that attaining municipal power in the majority of Shipibo-Konibo districts
has had both positive and negative effects, empowering their collective identity and
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cultural revival on the one hand, but resulting in political schisms and disillusionment of
the populace due to poor performance by most indigenous mayors, on the other.
The thesis contributes to the older political, sociological and anthropological
debate about Peru’s exceptionalism with regard to indigenous social movements. It also
offers a recommendation for indigenous organizations about ways that the long quest for
rights of self-determination can be implemented in a realistic manner in Latin America.

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Acknowledgments

I first acknowledge the originator of my energy and life – God. Secondly, I thank my
mother Zoila whose spirit of fearlessness and determination to make a path when there is
none has empowered me to always to look ahead and create a new path when I encounter
a dead end. I am extremely grateful to my long time mentor and main advisor William
Durham, and my professors Nickie Irvine and Terry Karl, whose patience, inspiration,
support and teachings have made me who I am professionally and intellectually.
Moreover, professors such as Lucia Da Sá, Kathleen Morrison, Michael Wilcox, Amanda
Stronza, Constanza Ocampo-Raeder, and Chris Mantzavinos have shaped my
worldviews.

I am also grateful to my daughters Vanessa and Olivia, and their mother Kim; my dad
Miguel; my sisters Nilda, Angelica, Elizabeth, and Karina; my nephew Ronald; my
American family Pat and Denise Parks and their sons Pat Jr., Aron, and Brian; and my
friends Warren Linney, Josh Mailman, Winder Basilio, Mark Elsner, Thomas
Kohnstamm, and Carlos Mendoza. They have all supported me holistically to accomplish
this task. I also want to gratefully acknowledge Mr. and Mrs. Bing whose ongoing
financial support made my field research possible as well as the write up of this
dissertation.

I am also indebted to the great scholars whose work inspired and made this dissertation
viable including W. Kymlicka, M. Freeden, A. Brisk, J. Albo, M. Tanaka, J. Anaya, D.
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Lee Van Cott, L. Eaken, and J. Tournon. Finally but not least, I am thankful to the great
people of the Shipibo-Konibo nation and their leaders inter alia J. Maldonado, C. Soria,
G. Muñoz, E. Diaz, R. Silvano, E. Torino, S. Rojas, M. Vasquez, M. Gomez, J. Macedo,
M. Rojas, M. Silva, H. Zampallo, R. Guimarez, M. Picota, S. Cumapa, P. Maynas, C. Yui
of the eastern Amazonia who participated in this study.

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Table of Contents
Chapter One
1. Introduction: The Question of Indigenous Political Participation in Peru 1

Chapter Two

2. The Shipibo-Konibos with/in The Peruvian State: Co-optation by the State and
National Culture 38

Chapter Three

3. The Shipibo-Konibos Emerging as New Actors: Identity, Organizations and
Movements 85

Chapter Four

4. The Shipibo-Konibos in Municipal Government: The Paradox of Power 137

Chapter Five

5. Conclusions and Implications 191

6. Bibliography 222

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List of Charts and Illustrations

1. Model 1 19

2. Map 1: Location of Majority Shipibo-Konibo Districts in Peru 24

3. Map 2: Native Communities by Ethnic Group in the Central Peruvian Amazon 36

4. Map 3: Land Titling Status of Native Communities of the Peruvian Amazon 59

5. Map 4: Petroleum Concessions Under Contract, in Negotiation, and in Development
in Peru 63

6. Table 1: Geographical Location 66
7. Table 2: Result of Election: District of Iparia, 1998, 2002, 2006 148
8. Table 3: Shipibo-Konibo Candidates in the District of Iparia, 1989 – 2006 149
9. Table 4: Result of Election: District of Tahuania, 1998 – 2002– 2006 161
10. Table 5: Shipibo-Konibo Candidates in the District of Tahuania, 1995 – 2006 162
11. Table 6: Results of Elections: District of Padre Marquez 1995, 2002, 2006 168

12. Table 7: Shipibo-Konibo Candidates in the District of Padre Marquez,
1992 – 2006 169

13. Table 8: Opinion of Focus Groups about indigenous mayors in Iparia: Colonia del
Caco, Utucuro, and Vista Alegre de Iparia 185

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CHAPTER 1

THE QUESTION OF INDIGENOUS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN PERU

In this chapter, I first lay the conceptual framework for my dissertation by reviewing the
generic sequence of indigenous political participation. I show that Peru is an unusual case
that does not fit the generic sequence and briefly explore the question “why not”. Second,
I review the implications of this difference for understanding indigenous social
movements in Latin America. In this context, I discuss the transition of indigenous
peoples from being labeled as a “problem” to entities with rights to self-determination.
Thirdly, I discuss how the politics of equal interaction is a better analytical model than
identity politics to understanding indigenous political participation in Peru. Finally, I give
an overview of the hypotheses and methods that guided my research, and describe briefly
the relevance of the dissertation to broader discussions today about indigenous political
participation in Latin America.
Indigenous peoples’ political “participation” in Latin American states, either
voluntarily or involuntarily, is not a new topic. Historically, there was first a long period
of resistance to the state’s policies to homogenize them culturally and physically. Their
“resistance to colonialism, economic exploitation, and political oppression” was
internationalized by the early 1970s (Varese 1996:62; Stavenhagen 1996; Urban 2001),
and these new voices of contestation have built national, continental, and global social
movements in the last two decades, most notably since the 1990s (Selverston-Scher
2001:1; Garcia & Lucero 2004:159). With the return of democratic regimes in most Latin
America states, both Amazonian and Andean indigenous peoples have led a visible
national and international movement to demand new collective rights summarized in the
1