Mestizaje -- process of cultural, ethnic, and racial mixing of Spanish and indigenous peoples -- has been central to the creation of modern national identity in Bolivia and much of Latin America. Sanjinis traces the rise of mestizaje as a defining feature of Bolivian modernism through the political struggles and upheavals of the twentieth century. He then turns this concept upside-down by revealing how the dominant discussion of mestizaje has been resisted and transformed by indigenous thinkers and activists. Rather than focusing solely on political events, Sanjinis grounds his argument in an examination of fiction, political essays, journalism, and visual art, offering a unique and masterful overview of Bolivian culture, identity, and politics.