Victor Maqque

This profile was current as of 2016, when he was part of the on-campus Kellogg community.

My name is Victor Maqque and I am from Peru. I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History. I received my Bachelor’s and a Master degree in Sociology from the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano in Puno, Peru and also a Master’s degree in History from the University of Notre Dame. I study the history of Latin America, particularly the politics of indigenous communities and popular sectors in the Southern Andes. I work with Karen Graubart as my advisor. I am also the current instructor of the Quechua Program at the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures with the support of the Kellogg Institute.

In my dissertation I examine the participation of Indigenous communities in the Southern highlands during the transition from colonial to national period (1750 – 1850). Scholars consider that the Indigenous community politics is eliminated with the erasure of the caciques–traditional community authorities- in the aftermath of the massive “age of Andean insurrections.” The story they tell is that the colonial policy of eliminating the Caciques also decapitated the communities’ political agency. My research shows that while the Caciques did indeed declined and were eliminated, the fundamental factor for it was the conscious political decision of the Indigenous communities to undermine and replace Caciques with alternative figures of authority. Therefore, the elimination of the Caciques rather than decapitating the community politics produced an internal process of transformations that in part explains their continuous struggles in the first decades after independence.

Concurrently, I am blessed with the opportunity to be the instructor on the Quechua Program at Notre Dame. I teach Quechua to students who are interested in the study of the indigenous and popular sectors in the Andes. Quechua, the largest native language spoken in Latin America offers a unique avenue to deepen our study of Latin America.

Along with my academic pursuits, I collaborate with Fr. Bob Pelton on issues involving the Latin American church, and the annual conferences in memory of Archbishop Romero. at home, I enjoy time with my wonderful family, the frequent gatherings with friends around the exquisite Peruvian cuisine, events with the residents in the University Village, and the noontime soccer at ND campus.