Power and Pilgrimage Dealing with Class, Gender and Ethnic Inequality at a Bolivian Marian Shrine

by Derks, Sanne

• ISBN13: 9783643900142
• ISBN10: 3643900147
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-22
• Publisher: Lit Verlag

Summary

Power and Pilgrimage is an in-depth anthropological study of life at a Bolivian pilgrimage site. It focuses on the experiences of pilgrims and how, in their Marian devotion, they express and learn to live with the various inequalities they experience in everyday life. Issues of poverty and class inequality lead them to approach the Virgin of Urkupi�a to support them in their quest for economic betterment. Another social inequality that comes to the fore is based on gender. Finally, ethnic inequalities are discussed by analyzing the dance processions in honor of the Virgin, since these reflect contested ethnic identities. Sanne Derks is a researcher at the Institute for Gender Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen.

Table of Contents

List of maps and photos	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
'The Calvary Hill is a calvaryà'	p. 1
Social inequalities in Bolivia	p. 5
Research questions	p. 10
Research methods	p. 11
Reflexivity: Petty-traders, pilgrims and me as a researcher	p. 19
Outline of the book	p. 21
Studying Pilgrimage: Concepts and Theories	p. 25
Pilgrimage and lived religion	p. 25
Marian devotion	p. 29
Power	p. 31
Class	p. 33
Gender	p. 35
Ethnicity	p. 38
The Place of Pilgrimage	p. 43
'To your feet, to your plants, miraculous Virgencita'	p. 43
History of the devotion to the Virgin of Urkupiña	p. 45
Legends of Urkupiña: The master narrative and subdominant narratives	p. 48
Cota: The place of legend	p. 51
Calvary Hill: The place of petitions and rituals	p. 53
Church of San Ildefonso: The place of the dominant discourse	p. 57
Fiesta of Urkupiña	p. 59
From icon to person	p. 63
Religious Reproduction of Neoliberal Politics at the Calvary Hill	p. 69
'Capitalism is humanity's worst enemy'	p. 69
Structural violence and social suffering	p. 71
Neoliberal politics in Bolivia	p. 73
Virginia's life	p. 76
Praying for money	p. 79
Violent Mary	p. 85
Conclusions	p. 88
Miniatures and Stones in a Spiritual Economy	p. 91
'I buy alasitas and chop stones to promise Mary that I will work hard'	p. 91
Religious objects and their meanings	p. 93
Alasitas, stones and their trajectories	p. 96
Escarlent's pilgrimage to the Calvary Hill	p. 101
Class and materialistic aspirations	p. 103
Collaborative Mary	p. 106
Conclusions	p. 109
Domestic Violence, Marianismo, and the Anger of Women	p. 113
"I prefer to have boys, as they suffer less than girls'	p. 113
Domestic violence	p. 115
Marianismo, a contested term	p. 118
Margarita's case	p. 124
Suffering	p. 130
Rabia	p. 134
Revengeful Mary	p. 137
Conclusions	p. 141
Meanings of Movement: Constructing Ethnic Difference in Religious Dance Processions	p. 145
'In front of Mary and the crowd, we display our indigenous roots'	p. 145
The Entrada Folklórica and Entrada Autóctona of Urkupiña	p. 148
Ethnicity as social identity	p. 153
Ethnicity and social (in)equality	p. 160
Conclusions	p. 166
Conclusions	p. 169
The study of pilgrimage	p. 169
Class, gender and ethnic inequality	p. 173
Empowerment and disempowerment	p. 178
Glossary	p. 183
References	p. 185
Nederlandse Samenvatting	p. 205
Resumen en Español	p. 213
Curriculum Vitae	p. 219
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