Anthropologists have preferred to concentrate on the analysis of societies and their cultures as units taken out of the context of their external relations, thus ignoring the valuable body of data that could make important contributions to the understanding of each society, analyzing in such a way that the emphasis would be placed on understanding the total context in which society operates. While early anthropological methods were adequate for the study of isolated communities and primitive nomadic bands, they are not adequate for the investigation of more complete societies.

In addition to journalists, novelists have tried to describe the struggles that occur in the Andean environment, especially the difficulties between neighboring communities and between communities and haciendas. In this sense, the works of Ciro Alegría, José María Arguedas, and Manuel Scorza stand out, to mention only three authors.

Aggressiveness and hostility has been the reputation acquired by the Qollas through the years. Anthropologists and other scholars, both foreigners and Peruvians and Bolivians, have emphasized the relevance of this dimension of the Qolla character; and there is no doubt that interpersonal conflict is significantly present in the life of the community. However, we would like to take this opportunity to state that we reject and deplore the sensational and generally erroneous character of the assessments published in certain magazines and newspapers about our previous analyzes of the problem. We will indicate two reservations about Qolla aggressiveness.

"La reciprocidad y el intercambio, tanto de bienes como de servicios, constituyen uno de los mecanismos fundamentales de articulación social y económica de amplios sectores del campesinado peruano más pobre, tanto entre sí como con los intermediarios del sistema económico nacional. La reciprocidad, que fue un elemento esencial en la organización económica y social de la sociedad andina anterior a la Conquista, continúa realizándose en el presente con profusión y vigor, a pesar de las modificaciones sufridas por el impacto de la penetración del capitalismo en el campo. Persiste como un mecanismo de adaptación racional a un ambiente particularmente duro, al mismo tiempo que actúa como defensa a la penetración urbana; pero, asimismo, el desigual control de los recursos la ha convertido en un elemento utilizado para profundizar y establecer nuevas formas de dominación, transfo...