Los Reyes De La Papa: economic, racial and, social transformations in the Peruvian Central Highlands

Abstract

This dissertation is a history of origins. It tells the history of “reyes de la papa,” potato farmers of peasant origins from the Peruvian Central Highlands, who took advantage of the “potato boom” of the 1950s and established a position for themselves in the region. It is also the history of how the Green Revolution’s ideas arrived to the Peruvian Central Highlands and introduced improved potato varieties, transforming the livelihoods of many peasant families. I should also say it is the history of how my grandparents started the venture of sowing potatoes for the market and started a journey of economic and social mobility. Through the telling of these multiple stories, my dissertation claims that the emergence of “potato kings” in the Peruvian Central Highlands is crucial to understand social transformations in the region because they challenge multiple boundaries and are involved in various struggles of recognition. By acknowledging the multiple tensions that emerge with “potato kings,” I demonstrate that economic and social transformations entail claims of racial and spatial mobility and belonging. Establishing bridges between political economy and critical studies of race and identity, my dissertation contributes to an understanding of the rural world as diverse and dynamic.