The stated goal of Estructura económica is to examine the economic structure of Charcas (modem Bolivia) in the seventeenth century within the framework of Wallerstein’s “world system” model. Recent studies of seventeenth-century Charcas have outlined the commercial circuits in the larger region dominated by Potosí and other urban and mining centers, the consolidation of the agrarian structure in the lower-elevation valleys such as Cochabamba, and the demographic collapse of the Indian population and related, large-scale migration from the highland communities to avoid tribute payments and service in the mita to Potosí.
Although a useful synthesis, Clara López Beltrán’s study makes no major historiographic contribution when viewed within the context of recent advances in the literature. The scope of the book is largely limited to a description of the decline of silver production at Potosí, based on quantitative data from secondary sources supplemented by selected documents; of tribute payments by Indians; and of the decline of the mita, again based on secondary sources and selected contemporary documents. The presentation itself is marred. The author has written a descriptive narrative without substantial analysis of indices and raw data on silver production and the price of silver, on tribute, and on the mita labor supply. She relies heavily on tables and graphs that are not fully integrated into the text and, in some instances, not adequately labeled or documented. Moreover, she does not cite a number of important studies published in the 1980s which deal with related topics. On the positive side, the book contains an appendix of transcriptions of representative documents which illustrate topics the author addresses.
Most experts on Andean economic history will find limited use for this book, but it should serve as a good introductory text for university students in Bolivia and Peru. López Beltrán has made a good beginning to a long-term research project.
I hope that she may give more attention in the future to aspects of seventeenth-century Bolivian economic history not previously studied.
