When I first landed in Bolivia, it was not to conduct research or to stay any longer than an 11-month fellowship to work at the United Nations. A week after I arrived in La Paz, on the 25th January 2009, an historical referendum approved a new Constitution. Alongside a multitude of Bolivians, huipalas (the Andean flag) and occasional tourists, I was in the Plaza Murillo that evening to listen to the speech of President Evo Morales. Bolivia was dismissing its old republican clothes to become a plurinational state. The new Constitution opened an exciting (and conflictive) time of institutional changes and political reforms. Given my passion for politics, these recent developments offered a good excuse to postpone my return to Europe as well as an excellent topic for my developing PhD project. I spent the following three years trying to adapt to the altitude and enjoying the chaotic charm of La Paz, with field trips to remote regions and departmental capitals across the country. With time, the initial infatuation with Bolivia became a long-term love affair. Since then, I have been writing on different aspects of Bolivian politics for academics, policymakers and lay audiences. My focus has been mainly on how contentious dynamics and identity politics have been reshaped by this recent process of institutional, legal and political reform.
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