Cookies?
Library Header Image
LSE Research Online LSE Library Services

Maneuvering for paper: physical and social experiences of bureaucracy in Venezuelan Amazonia

Penfield, Amy (2016) Maneuvering for paper: physical and social experiences of bureaucracy in Venezuelan Amazonia. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 21 (3). pp. 457-477. ISSN 1935-4932

[img]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Version
Download (618kB) | Preview
Identification Number: 10.1111/jlca.12190

Abstract

This article explores an apprenticeship in bureaucracy that the Venezuelan Sanema have experienced through their participation in the projects of the late Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution. The analysis focuses on the maneuverability that paperwork engenders, and thus contributes to an understanding of mobility and corporeal experiences of the state apparatus in contemporary Amazonia. New patterns of movement—travel to and from cities, daily errands, and maneuvering within social spheres—must be understood with reference to the state and its bureaucratic pervasiveness, but also as congruous with customary practices of “journeying for knowledge,” which forge an intimate link between physical and social mobility. The new maneuverability that is both prompted and necessitated by the current political setting is equally as important as literacy in navigating bureaucratic structures and accessing state resources.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/jo...
Additional Information: © 2016 The American Anthropological Association
Divisions: Anthropology
Subjects: F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General)
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2016 10:55
Last Modified: 07 Feb 2024 03:27
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/68523

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics