The fiftieth anniversary of the 1952 Revolution in Bolivia offered an opportunity to explore contrasting visions about change in this often overlooked country from a comparative perspective. Blending the approaches of history and the social sciences, the chapters in this volume examine both implicitly and explicitly the extent to which the process opened by the uprising of April 1952 is comparable to the great radical transformations that occurred elsewhere during the twentieth century.

The question of historical memory, the origins of the revolution in the political economy and culture of the towns, mines and countryside, and the extent to which the political process after 1952 shaped new interpretations of the country's place in the world are all analysed by leading scholars from Bolivia, the USA and the UK. Full and critical attention is given to the consequences of the revolution over fifty years, with assessments of the parties, structures and policies shaping economic, political and social conditions at the start of the twenty-first century.