Dr. Carwil Bjork-James, in The Sovereign Street: Making Revolution in Urban Bolivia, highlights several protest movements in Bolivia. He considers how physical space impacts movements and forces conversations. Similarly, I was particularly intrigued in how he placed the Bolivian protests in a global context. From discussing neoliberal theory to differences between cultural responses (in the US and Bolivia), I found the content of his work to be very interesting. (I also love how he gave cultural context behind some light-hearted moments, such as, fighting someone from Chile with the meat vs Chuño joke) However, I found the methodology of the ethnography to be super interesting. Dr. Carwil Bjork-James recognizes the distrust Bolivians may have towards him due to America granting asylum to controversial figures, but he is able to pull on his experiences protesting for the same causes they are protesting for just abroad. This builds rapport with the informant, and the Bolivian protester can open up with a sympathizer. I thought it was a very strategic way to develop trust. Similarly, I liked that Dr. Carwil Bjork- James would include his own perspective and reaction given his own experience protesting and his own positioning. Particularly, I found his comparison of how traffic alters due to protests in Bolivia and the almost lack thereof in the United States to be insightful. (Since he acknowledges that he is one of the first to cover the protests in English, I think it was strategic to make comparisons to the United States to help with comprehension.) All in all, I found this ethnography to be very interesting!
The Sovereign Street: Making Revolution in Urban Bolivia 2/12/2023
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I also found significance in his unique mode of developing trust with the Bolivian people on whom the ethnography is focused. Dr. Bjork-James aimed to dispel any notions of his “researcher” title making him an outsider to the community. As you mentioned, he framed himself in a light of solidarity by mentioning his background with protesting under similar values of the Bolivian people. However, in the introduction he also lays out two critical details in how he was prepared for his research and creating an identity not as an outsider but as a part of the ingroup. He touches on how his knowledge of the Spanish language aided in building relationships with Bolivians, as well as how he took multiple trips to Bolivia in the years leading up to beginning his true fieldwork residence. Combined, these two details allowed Dr. Bjork-James to become familiar with the local culture and customs before beginning his formal research project, assimilating himself into the culture more than if he had started field work outright or had not had fluency in the Spanish language.