El Alto, Rebel City

“This book contributes to Andean anthropology by providing an insightful and wellcrafted ethnographic account of practices and experiences of citizenship in the city of El Alto, and emphasizing the importance of engaging with urban research in the region.” - Melania Calestani, Critique of Anthropology
“Lazar has written a fine study which substantially lives up to its claim to provide an ethnographic analysis of El Alto, and provides new insights for Andean studies in an urban context and of how citizenship is constructed through practice.”
- Graham Thiele, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
“Sian Lazar’s book El Alto, Rebel City is a magnificent ethnographic study of a specific neighbourhood in the city of El Alto, Bolivia, in the years before Evo Morales became president. . . . The book is a goldmine for scholars caught between their attachment to the – indisputable – values of classic liberal democracy and the awareness that reality is different. It can teach us something about other possible ways of actually doing democracy – without an inclination to make these practices more attractive than they really are. Like very few others do, this book actually takes us to the work floor of democracy where it is put into practice. Any desire to understand democracy or democratic mores in Bolivia (or elsewhere) should begin by reading it.” - Ton Salman, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
“El Alto, Rebel City is a terrific book. The author broadly engages the civic life of residents in a working-class city. Offering a coherent account of collective selves in the making, Lazar reveals these to be the foundation of an innovative form of citizenship. The book deserves a broad readership, both of those interested in emergent identities in contemporary Latin America and, more generally, of those studying the new urban citizenries that are shaping global cities.” - Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, PoLAR
“The richness of these chapters provides useful material for those who work in Bolivia and contributes to a body of knowledge that allows scholars to piece together patterns of citizenship in multiple social contexts. . . . This book provides useful and compelling analysis of the dynamics of self and belonging that residents of Rosas Pampa and the Asociación de Pescaderas frame their citizenship practices.” - Juan Manuel Arbona, Journal of Latin American Studies
“El Alto offers a clearly written portrait of a city that has become key to understanding current Bolivian politics. This rich case study can inform conceptions of citizenship that emphasize the role of practices, social organizations, and collective traditions. Scholars interested in the making of citizenship in Bolivia and it vibrant and changing society will find this book useful and inspiring.” - Pablo Lapegna, Hispanic American Historical Review
“A marvelous piece of ethnographic analysis written with unusual clarity, El Alto, Rebel City provides a unique lens for viewing (and rethinking) the nature and strategies of contemporary, urban popular mobilization.”—Brooke Larson, author Trials of Nation Making: Liberalism, Race, and Ethnicity in the Andes, 1810–1910
“An important contribution to Andeanist anthropology, Sian Lazar’s innovative treatment of citizenship represents a new take on classic political and urban anthropology. Very few studies have explored with such nuance and personal intimacy the political beliefs and practices of poor residents of an Andean city.”—Daniel M. Goldstein, author of The Spectacular City: Violence and Performance in Urban Bolivia
“El Alto, Rebel City is a terrific book. The author broadly engages the civic life of residents in a working-class city. Offering a coherent account of collective selves in the making, Lazar reveals these to be the foundation of an innovative form of citizenship. The book deserves a broad readership, both of those interested in emergent identities in contemporary Latin America and, more generally, of those studying the new urban citizenries that are shaping global cities.” -- Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld * PoLAR *
“El Alto offers a clearly written portrait of a city that has become key to understanding current Bolivian politics. This rich case study can inform conceptions of citizenship that emphasize the role of practices, social organizations, and collective traditions. Scholars interested in the making of citizenship in Bolivia and it vibrant and changing society will find this book useful and inspiring.” -- Pablo Lapegna * Hispanic American Historical Review *
“Lazar has written a fine study which substantially lives up to its claim to provide an ethnographic analysis of El Alto, and provides new insights for Andean studies in an urban context and of how citizenship is constructed through practice.”
-- Graham Thiele * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
“Sian Lazar’s book El Alto, Rebel City is a magnificent ethnographic study of a specific neighbourhood in the city of El Alto, Bolivia, in the years before Evo Morales became president. . . . The book is a goldmine for scholars caught between their attachment to the – indisputable – values of classic liberal democracy and the awareness that reality is different. It can teach us something about other possible ways of actually doing democracy – without an inclination to make these practices more attractive than they really are. Like very few others do, this book actually takes us to the work floor of democracy where it is put into practice. Any desire to understand democracy or democratic mores in Bolivia (or elsewhere) should begin by reading it.” -- Ton Salman * European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies *
“The richness of these chapters provides useful material for those who work in Bolivia and contributes to a body of knowledge that allows scholars to piece together patterns of citizenship in multiple social contexts. . . . This book provides useful and compelling analysis of the dynamics of self and belonging that residents of Rosas Pampa and the Asociación de Pescaderas frame their citizenship practices.” -- Juan Manuel Arbona * Journal of Latin American Studies *
“This book contributes to Andean anthropology by providing an insightful and wellcrafted ethnographic account of practices and experiences of citizenship in the city of El Alto, and emphasizing the importance of engaging with urban research in the region.” -- Melania Calestani * Critique of Anthropology *