The Amerikas Colloquium

Rubén Dario Chambi (LMU Munich):

Suma Qamaña in the 21st Century: Aymara Traders and Economic Well-being in El Alto, Bolivia

This presentation offers a reinterpretation of the Aymara concept Suma Qamaña (commonly translated as Vivir Bien), based on the everyday practices of Aymara traders in the city of El Alto, Bolivia. Unlike state-driven formulations of Vivir Bien, which present it as an anti-capitalist and essentially communal philosophy, historical and ethnographic analysis reveals that Suma Qamaña originates and evolves dynamically, articulating with economic, ritual, and linguistic practices specific to the contemporary urban context. Drawing on interviews, participant observation, and semantic analysis of Aymara notions such as Qama (vital energy to exist), the study examines how traders reconfigure their understandings of well-being in settings marked by informality, commerce, and rituality. From this perspective, the presentation challenges dualistic readings that frame Suma Qamaña through oppositions such as Indigenous/non-Indigenous or capitalist/non-capitalist, as well as interpretations that assign it fixed and homogeneous meanings. Instead, it proposes understanding Aymara notions of well-being through their versatility, agency, and adaptability. This approach highlights how Aymara lifeways and contemporary urban realities are not mutually exclusive, but rather interwoven in complex forms of inhabiting, producing, and signifying life in the 21st century.

Hybrid Session in English

When?      July 8, 18:15

Where?    Oettingenstr. 67, Room 155
                 AND via zoom,
                 apply for link at Valeska.Diaz@lmu.de or register by using the following link

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