Activism through anthropological practice in the Global South: an exploration

Nascent activism in times of disillusionment: struggles between Indigenous self-determination and state co-optation in plurinational Bolivia

“…When the notion of vivir bien became Bolivian state policy in 2006, some members of the Indigenous network with which I engaged became parliamentarians and policy advisors for the MAS. Meanwhile, I started a PhD project to contribute to and accompany the process with critical and engaged knowledge production (Hutchings & Holcombe, 2022), discussing the potentials and possible dangers of translating Indigenous life philosophies, such as sumak kawsay, into state policies (Ranta, 2018a). While I lived in rural Indigenous communities in 2001 with the consent of the respective Indigenous authorities, I have primarily conducted my subsequent research periods in 2018, 2020, and 2022, as well as long-term ethnographic work, 2008–2009, in state institutions and with urban Indigenous scholars and activists, with their oral consent.…”