In October 2003, the sociopolitical landscape of Bolivia was severely shaken. Poor people, primarily of Aymara ancestry, descended from the adobe-lined streets of the indigenous barrios in El Alto to besiege the old city center and the Plaza of San Francisco. In this way, they sought to redress age-old grievances and assert their voices in the midst of yet another crisis. Over the last couple of decades, Andeanists have directed much of their attention toward the sociopolitical “temblores” of an earlier era, especially indigenous revolts and rebellions. In We Alone Will Rule, Sin-clair Thomson examines the major seismic event of colonial Andean insurrection, the Great Rebellion of the early 1780s. Like other recent scholars, he has looked to the inner working and the voices of indigenous society in his effort to understand colonial Andean society. While he does discuss movements in rural Cuzco, Oruro, and Chayanta, his...

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