From the streets to the state: An analysis of Bolivia's cocaleros as a movement for social change

In December 2005, Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism ( Movimiento Al Socialismo -- MAS) political party, won the presidential elections on an 'anti-imperialise and 'anti-neoliberal' platform. Morales was (and still is) the leader of Bolivia's most influential coca-growers union, the Six Federations of the Cochabamba Tropics, and he identifies as an indigenous peasant. The coca-growers' unions are comprised of ex-miners who relocated to the Chapare region of Bolivia to pursue coca growing as an economic alternative when the mining industry crashed in the 1980s and they have since become one of the most powerful unions in Bolivia. The restructuring of society and the redefinition of coca policies in the current global political climate is proving to be a challenging feat. This thesis looks at the intersection between social movements and the state, by examining the cocalero movement in Bolivia and their transition into state power. I ask to what extent changes can be made within, and outside of, the state system. I conclude with the argument that working towards specific demands through the state, and thereby focusing on constitutional or policy changes, perpetuates the liberal notion of democracy and representation that actually impedes the real involvement of all citizens. This trajectory does not fully challenge the fundamental roots of injustice, and at the end of the day state reforms that ensue --- no matter how progressive they appear --- may face, and/or perpetuate, limitations in a struggle for fundamental changes that seek to eradicate the root causes of inequality.