Abstract
This paper addresses my understanding of well-being as harmonious relations in the city of El Alto, Bolivia. My approach shows the complexity of issues emerging when dealing with social relations. First of all, I analyse a specific case study showing the moral obligation involved among household members. Then I attempt to provide an insight into other aspects of social life to realise that the same degree of moral duty can be found when people participate in religious festivities or social protests. Collaboration, unity and co-operation often coexist with conflicts and moral obligation. The paper argues that this picture of complex coexistence is rather different from the substantive freedom described by Sen (Development as freedom. Oxford University Press, 1999) in his capability approach. By taking Sen’s theoretical framework as a point of departure for this investigation, it aims to emphasise the value of ethnography and other qualitative methods to the study of well-being. In the field of well-being, social interaction may greatly affect people’s capabilities to choose the lives they have reason to value, obliging them to follow certain models based on shared values and preferences. The paper contributes to debates on this specific issue, trying to shed light on the picture emerging when engaging with ethnographic research.
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Notes
Substantive freedom can be defined as any combination of functionings actually achieved by a person.
The term collective can be problematic and this is why I decided to use quotation marks. There are many collectivities and it is therefore difficult to talk about a single model of ‘the good life’.
Suma Qamana means permanecer in Spanish, or to stay. While the Sumana Jakana implies spiritual and health dimensions at the individual and household level, the Sumana Qamana involves various material, economic and political aspects.
Ayni is a mutual exchange as a form of gift or work. Minka is co-operative work in which all the community participates.
Aymara term.
The names of the household and of all the members have been changed to protect my informants.
The cost to enrol in public universities is around 27 bolivianos—about 3.5 US$, per year.
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Calestani, M. An Anthropology of ‘The Good Life’ in the Bolivian Plateau. Soc Indic Res 90, 141–153 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9317-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9317-5