PERFORMING NATIONAL CULTURE IN A BOLIVIAN MIGRANT COMMUNITY

Folklorization of traditional Andean culture by a universalizing natio n-state appropriates indigenous ceremony for political ends, but at th e same time creates spaces within which indigenous people can assert t heir own claims to be the ''true'' custodians of the national cultural patrimony. In a local fiesta modeled on Bolivia's famous Carnaval, th e residents of one migrant barrio in the city of Cochabamba labor to p roduce a collective identity based on their control of national folklo re, in order to enhance the legitimacy of their community and to foste r integration with the Bolivian nation.