Using the Past to Construct Present Identities: Memories of Bolivian Ex-Miners.

Abstract

The restructuring of the mining sector in Bolivia in the mid-1980s is a good example of the social and cultural consequences of the adjustments in economic policies and changes in development planning that have been carried out in Latin America during the past two decades. The forced exodus of the miners and their families from the mining centres, and their struggle to make ends meet as newcomers to the informal labour market in Bolivia's larger cities, illustrate the depth of the changes in the quality of work and livelihood that are taking place throughout the region, and not only in Bolivia.