Kintal sut’i: Preservation, Transmission and Uses of Normative Knowledge in ayllus and Communities (Charcas, Bolivia, 16th–21st centuries)

Abstract

Based on documentary evidence from ayllus and community archives in Bolivia, the authors of this essay reflect on the preservation, transmission and use of particular normative knowledges in the long period between the 16th and 21st centuries. They point out that some of the memorias of these ayllus, transmitted orally or in writing, formed not only the basis for collective pronouncements against the arbitrariness of authorities and governments in power but also for an effective inter-ayllu and trans-community organisation of the territory. They propose that it is fundamental to approach this knowledge from a social and anthropological history of law that does justice to the particularity, complexity and internal tensions of the narratives used by the actors involved.