POST-PEASANT CAPITALIST GRAZIERS - THE 21ST-CENTURY IN SOUTHERN BOLIVIA

Grazing elements in the household livelihood strategies of rural peopl e in Tarija (southern Bolivia) are examined in order to show how they use a range of micro-environments in a sustainable way, how such strat egies have evolved during the present century, and how grazing is inti mately linked with out-migration. Grazing strengthens livelihoods and is easily integrated into the survival strategies of people living in what are evidently translocal and transnational communities. Environme ntal changes associated with these grazing practices are generally pos itive and degradation is probably less than it was a decade ago. This contradicts the orthodox views held by urban people and agricultural s pecialists who blame erosion on the current grazing practices rather t han on those of the past. Present-day graziers use livestock as a mean s to accumulate capital in situations of labor scarcity.