Examination of the Role of the Peasantry During the Bolivian National Revolution

FAIN: FT-10710-70

James V. Kohl
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA 02139-4307)

Fellow to examine the relationship of the Bolivian peasantry to the National Revolution of 1952-64. Of the six Latin American social revolutions of the past half-century, the Bolivian National Revolution has attracted the least scholarly--particularly historical--attention. Fellow's preliminary research indicates that the direction of the revolution was signficantly influenced by the peasantry and that peasant conflicts contributed greatly to the political instability which ultimately led to the military coup of 1964 and the termination of the National Revolution. Research to combine traditional historical methodology (examination of newspapers, memoirs, government documents) with techniques devloped by social scientists (interviews and discussions with participants). Fellow to teach a course in comparative history focusing on 20th century social revolution in Mexico, Guatamala, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba.