Overview

In Domesticating Democracy Susan Helen Ellison examines foreign-funded alternate dispute resolution (ADR) organizations that provide legal aid and conflict resolution to vulnerable citizens in El Alto, Bolivia. Advocates argue that these programs help residents cope with their interpersonal disputes and economic troubles while avoiding an overburdened legal system and cumbersome state bureaucracies. Ellison shows that ADR programs do more than that-they aim to change the ways Bolivians interact with the state and with global capitalism, making them into self-reliant citizens. ADR programs frequently encourage Bolivians to renounce confrontational expressions of discontent, turning away from courtrooms, physical violence, and street protest and coming to the negotiation table. Nevertheless, residents of El Alto find creative ways to take advantage of these micro-level resources while still seeking justice and a democratic system capable of redressing the structural violence and vulnerability that ADR fails to treat.

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9780822371083

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Reviews

With deep insight, Susan Helen Ellison maps the confluence of U.S. investment in Bolivian democracy and liberalization policies that steepened personal debt for many Bolivians. She shows in rich detail how the alternative dispute resolution forums backed by NGOs in the name of democracy have become materially central to the form and substance of interpersonal relations. Her trenchant analysis of what she calls political intimacy is compelling, convincing, and moving--a major contribution to democracy studies. --Carol J. Greenhouse, author of The Paradox of Relevance: Ethnography and Citizenship in the United States Domesticating Democracy is an original, timely, and important book. Susan Helen Ellison provides a fascinating study of alternative dispute resolution as a form of neoliberal governmentality, and her experience as intern and ethnographer in the institutions she studies shines through. Well-researched, clearly-written, convincing, and full of rich ethnographic detail, this book will find an audience among anthropologists and legal scholars interested in Latin America, urban studies, and democratization. --Daniel M. Goldstein, author of Owners of the Sidewalk: Security and Survival in the Informal City

An in-depth study of the complexities of a foreign-founded programme of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and its eff ects, appropriations and interpretations amongst El Alto residents in Bolivia . . . particularly relevant for practitioners and civil servants. -- Nico Tassi * Anthropology in Action * Ellison uses insightful accounts to weave people's daily experiences of conflicts and vulnerability into the work of the ADR centres and the judicial structure of the country. . . . The book is very valuable in helping us understand Bolivia's complex process of change, the structural impediments to peaceful progress and the vulnerabilities of large proportions of the populations - conditions that are not automatically helped by foreign funded programmes. -- Charlotta Widmark * Journal of Latin American Studies * [Domesticating Democracy] elegantly elucidates the ways that Bolivian political conflicts move across and thereby newly draw together domestic, national, and transnational practices and institutions. -- Mareike Winchell * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *

Domesticating Democracy is an original, timely, and important book. Susan Helen Ellison provides a fascinating study of alternative dispute resolution as a form of neoliberal governmentality, and her experience as intern and ethnographer in the institutions she studies definitely shines through. Well-researched, clearly-written, convincing, and full of rich ethnographic detail, this book will find an audience among anthropologists and legal scholars interested in Latin America, urban studies, and democratization. -- Daniel M. Goldstein, author of * Owners of the Sidewalk: Security and Survival in the Informal City * With deep insight, Susan Helen Ellison maps the confluence of U.S. investment in Bolivian democracy and liberalization policies that steepened personal debt for many Bolivians. She shows in rich detail how the alternative dispute resolution forums backed by NGOs in the name of democracy have become materially central to the form and substance of interpersonal relations. Her trenchant analysis of what she calls political intimacy is compelling, convincing, and moving-a major contribution to democracy studies. -- Carol J. Greenhouse, author of * The Paradox of Relevance: Ethnography and Citizenship in the United States *

An in-depth study of the complexities of a foreign-founded programme of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and its eff ects, appropriations and interpretations amongst El Alto residents in Bolivia . . . particularly relevant for practitioners and civil servants. -- Nico Tassi * Anthropology in Action * Ellison uses insightful accounts to weave people's daily experiences of conflicts and vulnerability into the work of the ADR centres and the judicial structure of the country. . . . The book is very valuable in helping us understand Bolivia's complex process of change, the structural impediments to peaceful progress and the vulnerabilities of large proportions of the populations - conditions that are not automatically helped by foreign funded programmes. -- Charlotta Widmark * Journal of Latin American Studies *

""An in-depth study of the complexities of a foreign-founded programme of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and its eff ects, appropriations and interpretations amongst El Alto residents in Bolivia . . . particularly relevant for practitioners and civil servants.""   -- Nico Tassi * Anthropology in Action * ""Ellison uses insightful accounts to weave people’s daily experiences of conflicts and vulnerability into the work of the ADR centres and the judicial structure of the country. . . . The book is very valuable in helping us understand Bolivia’s complex process of change, the structural impediments to peaceful progress and the vulnerabilities of large proportions of the populations – conditions that are not automatically helped by foreign funded programmes."" -- Charlotta Widmark * Journal of Latin American Studies * “[Domesticating Democracy] elegantly elucidates the ways that Bolivian political conflicts move across and thereby newly draw together domestic, national, and transnational practices and institutions.” -- Mareike Winchell * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute * “[Domesticating Democracy] is an important book for scholars of the Andes and political and legal studies scholars, as well as anyone trying to get their head around what neoliberalism is and what (hopefully, someday) comes next. . . . The clear writing and strong narrative thread make it a good option for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in all disciplines.” -- Susan Ellison * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *

Author Information

Susan Ellison is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wellesley College.

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