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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of
Special Collections
Title: Stefano Varese Papers
Creator:
Varese, Stefano
Identifier/Call Number: D-555
Physical Description:
19 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1969-2006
Abstract: Articles by
Varese, correspondence, and lecture and conference
materials.
Physical Location: Researchers should contact
Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are
stored offsite.
Biography/Administrative History
Stefano Varese was a professor of Native American Studies, University of California, Davis. Varese was born in Genova, Italy
in 1939 during the tumultuous eras of Fascist Italy and World War II. In 1957, he traveled to Peru where he lived with his
father and obtained a Diploma in History (1964), B.S. in Ethnology (1966), and a Ph.D. in Anthropology (1967) at the Catholic
University in Lima, Peru. Liberation Theology greatly influenced Varese’s worldview and he devoted his studies to the sovereignty
of Indigenous people in Peru and the Amazon. These formative years shaped Varese’s Indigenous-centric philosophy of social
justice that combined a Marxist materialist analysis with indigenous spirituality and epistemology.
During President Juan Velasco Alvarado’s administration, Varese was the director of the administration’s National System of
Social Mobilization (SINAMOS) and helped lead the government’s agrarian land reforms. He was also a signee of the Declaration
of Barbados, which accused Latin American and Caribbean governments and private interests throughout the region of conducting
genocide against Indigenous populations.
Following the military coup led by General Morales Bermudez, Varese fled to Mexico in 1975. He became an investigator at the
National Institute of Anthropology and History in Oaxaca, Mexico (1975-1979) and the director of the Oaxaca Regional Unit
for Peoples and Indigenous Culture (1981-1985). During this time, Varese continued to advocate for Indigenous sovereignty
in Mexico, Peru, and throughout Latin America. From 1980 to 1987, he participated in the Mexican state’s Popular Cultures
initiative which attempted to undo the damaging effects of assimilationist economic initiatives enacted by prior governments.
During this time, he helped develop an Indigenous model of economic and social empowerment. In 1986, he served as a member
of a fact-finding delegation from the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Human Rights and Academic Freedom commission
to investigate confrontations between the Sandinista and indigenous populations on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast.
In 1990, Varese eventually joined the faculty of Native American Studies department at UC Davis after serving as a visiting
professor. He founded the Indigenous Research Center of the Americas (IRCA) at UC Davis in 1991 and helped establish the department’s
Native American Studies Graduate Program. He co-hosted the Indigenous Intellectual Sovereignties: A Hemispheric Convocation
conference in 1998 where intellectuals from across the western hemisphere gathered to discuss the field of Native American
studies. In 2013, he was awarded the Activist Scholarship award from OXFAM Latin American Studies Association (LASA) and,
in 2017, the Medal Haydee Santamaría from the Casa de las Américas and the Cuban Government. He currently serves as a professor
emeritus with the department and regularly offers the Environmental Justice in Indigenous Ecuador summer abroad course.
Scope and Content of Collection
Articles by Varese, correspondence, and lecture and conference
materials.
Collection is open for research.
Liz Phillips encoded this finding aid with help from student
assistant Aditi Sinha. The biography was written by Sacramento State Public History graduate student Desun Oka.
[Identification of item], Stefano Varese Papers, D-555, Archives and
Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California,
Davis.
All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under
chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to
publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on
behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of
the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
researcher.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Varese, Stefano -- Archives
University of California, Davis -- Faculty
-- Archives
University of California, Davis. Department
of Native American Studies