Inclusions and Exclusions: From Labor Legislation in the Andean Nations to the Formation of Labor Courts in Bolivia (1900-1945)

Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru were marked historically by the magnitude of the indigenous population (between 70 and 90%) during the first half of the 20th century. A large number lived in indigenous communities and on haciendas under specific labor relationships described by various degrees of servitude. The mining and agricultural export industries did not attract very large numbers of laborers. Considering this particular demographic, economic, and political-social confluence, did the term “worker” include indigenous people? The question is crucial, given that the answer will determine the jurisdiction and sphere of operation of the Labor Courts. The interrogation also emerges from the knowledge we have of Bolivia, where “worker” by antonomasia is the factory worker or the wage earning and proletarian miner. Also, as shown by Paulo Drinot in Peru, the “Indian” was set in opposition to the industrial worker, with the consideration that the former would be redeemed by industry. In this chapter, I intend to analyze, in the three Andean countries, the dynamics of inclusion/ exclusion of the indigenous workers in the social labor legislation adopted, in the labor codes and in the scope of the Labor Courts particularly in the case of Bolivia.