Resistance at Cerro de Pasco: Indigenous moral economy and the structure of social movements in Peru

On every continent and in every historical epoch, minerals have been intertwined with human communities. A symbol of wealth as well as an indispensable practical resource, minerals have affected the social, political, economic, and religious aspects of human existence. This is particularly the case in Peru, where the mineral abundance of the Andes has played a central role in shaping both the pre- and post-Columbian context of human communities in the cordillera.; This dissertation examines how the mineral abundance of the Andes has been linked with both the labor exploitation and political resistance of indigenous peoples in the region. In the post-Columbian history of the Andes, indigenous communities have sustained pre-Columbian religious traditions in relationship to minerals and mining which have informed their responses to the exploitation in the mines that they have experienced since the time of Spanish colonization. As this exploitation has continued through post-independence industrial modernization and contemporary transnational mining enterprises, indigenous mine workers in the Andes have consistently drawn upon their traditional ceremonies in the mines to develop their primary strategies of resistance.; Using historical documents pertaining to the activities of the Cerro de Pasco Corporation in Peru, this project engages in qualitative critical analysis to illustrate the coherence and strength of these uniquely indigenous modes of political organizing, even as American industrialists and Marxist labor organizers attempted to re-shape indigenous cultures to fit Western ideas of economic and political modernization in the Andes. Materials used in the research include industrial documentation, personal archives from a Cerro de Pasco Corporation employee, and primary field notes from an anthropologist who conducted a 1970 ethnographic study at Cerro de Pasco.; This dissertation demonstrates that the indigenous traditions of mining ceremonies have proven to be indispensable for native workers to address the continuing exploitation of their labor even within modern extractive enterprises. These uniquely native forms of collective engagement merit recognition for their historical and contemporary influence on political action among indigenous peoples, not only in Peru, but throughout the hemisphere. Whether these indigenous movements can be joined with larger movements for international social justice remains to be seen.