ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE. PLURINATIONALISM AS AN AGENDA OF INTERNAL COLONIALISM IN ANDEAN STATES

Authors: Enrico Buono

ABSTRACT

The approval drop that led to the fall of Evo Morales in Bolivia in November 2019 might be traced back to the progressive disaffection of Bolivian indigenous peoples towards their alleged leader. The official multiculturalism pursued by the MAS party has been critically described by indigenous authors as ‘the concealing mechanism par excellence for new forms of colonization’. In that sense, the recent Bolivian crisis is a fitting example of a conflict heavily racialized by a precise political agenda. This agenda has officially adopted the decolonizing discourses of Global Northern academies, crystallizing identity fetishes based on the presumption of an (impossible) ‘authenticity’: a culturalist approach that conceals and obscures the ‘juxtaposition, in small points or spots, of opposed or contrasting colours’, represented by mestizo identities. In September 2022, about 80% of indigenous voters have overwhelmingly rejected the Chilean draft constitution, despite its inclusive and progressive character. These two examples show how populist uses of indigeneity can impair transformative constitutional projects, which end up being rejected by the very populations whose inclusion they promote. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the difficulties currently faced by the plurinational discourse, in its pursuit of a genuinely multicolored Andean nuevo constitucionalismo.

Keywords: Andean nuevo constitucionalismo – Indigenous rights – Bolivian plurinational State – Chilean draft constitution

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