A new book by Dr. Lisa Glidden of SUNY Oswego’s political
science department looks at how indigenous movements developed
in South America, as well as factors behind ethnic political
actions across the globe. “Mobilizing Ethnic Identity in the
Andes: A Study of Ecuador and Peru” represents an updated
version of Glidden’s thesis from the 1990s, but the topic
remains fresh as attempts at nation-building across ethnic and
cultural divides continue in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
She delves into the central question “Why is it that sometimes
people mobilize along ethnic lines, and sometimes they don’t?”
The topic is important “because ethnic movements can be so
powerful,” Glidden explained. “It’s not easy to get that kind of
mobilization, but it can be very meaningful and empowering.” Yet
despite high-profile attempts at empowerment—with nationalism
and separatism running from Europe to Africa to Asia to even the
Quebecoise in Canada—“given the number of people who could
organize themselves into ethnic movemen