ABSTRACT
This chapter describes constitutional developments in Latin America, with a focus on changing indigenous-state relations in Bolivia and Ecuador. It discusses the underlying ideological dimension of these legal reforms, with a detailed look at the contested and relatively recent concept of the plurinational state and its legal manifestations. The chapter examines the constitutional and legislative provisions establishing indigenous autonomies in Bolivia and Ecuador. From the 1950s onwards in particular, indigenous persons in Latin America were increasingly framed as peasants, cultural differences were made invisible in legal norms and state policy, and their cultural practices were often criminalized. With the return to democracy after 1978, the homogeneous state model gave way to a pluralist model that recognized multiculturalism and indigenous peoples' rights in some Latin American states. The chapter shows that the 'permitted Indian' and neoliberal multiculturalism are being transformed in Bolivia and, to a much lesser extent, in Ecuador.
