Abstract
Bolivia's refounding as a plurinational state is based on the recognition of the existence of indigenous peoples and their right to determine their form of government. As such, the creation of indigenous originary peasant autonomies (autonomías indígena originaria campesinas) within the broader constitutional framework of the plurinational state provide the basis for a new relationship between indigenous peoples and the Bolivian state. In practical terms, indigenous autonomies mark the recognition by the state of the right to difference, and in doing so, fundamentally alter the nature of the state. In quantitative terms, the fact that a decade on from the initial referendums in which 11 municipalities voted in favour of beginning the conversion to AIOCs, only two of these municipalities, plus one indigenous originary peasant territory (territorio indígena originario campesino) have completed the process, does not suggest that the project to implement the recognition of indigenous peoples' right to autonomy in Bolivia has been a success. However, assessed qualitatively, in the long historical context of the struggle of indigenous peoples for state recognition of their own political autonomy, it would be right to judge indigenous self-government in Bolivia, as a path that continues to be constructed incrementally.