James Sheptycki

Policing Political Protest When Politics Go Global: The Case of Bolivia

This paper examines a series of political protest events in Bolivia and provides a detailed account of events leading up to the ouster by popular protest of Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada in October of 2003. The paper situates the events of 2003 by reference to specific features of Bolivias positioning in the global system; notably the effects of International Monetary Fund policies, international drug prohibition, and the consequences of economic liberalization for management of the countrys assets. It also pays special attention to the affects of police development aid on the Bolivian police system.  It analyses the policing of these political protests with reference to the flashpoints model (Waddington et al, 1989) and to T.A. Critchely's (1970) three ideal types of public violence; primitive, reactionary and modern.

James W. E. Sheptycki is Associate Professor at the Division of Social Science, Faculty of Arts, York University, Toronto. Most recent publications: En quête de police transnationale, Bruxelles: De Boek & Larcier, 2005; In Search of Transnational Policing, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002.

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