Imaging the Andes

Book excerpt: The central Andes--Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador--are undergoing rapid change. Economic integration within and beyond the Andes, neoliberal and adjustment policies, new communication technologies, indigenous political emancipation, and migration are among the factors that are transforming livelihoods, cultures, and identities of the Andean countries. These changes have triggered a debate on the dynamics and the permanence of an "Andean way of life." Analyzing the dynamics of "Andean-ness" in relation to policy reform and globalization, this book addresses new forms of cultural encounter, the validity of tradition in the midst of rapid change, and the alleged dissociation of identities and cultures from their territories. Focusing on the central Andes, it becomes clear that inherited views about what it means to be Andean are losing ground.