Vivir Bien, child labor, and indigenous rights in Bolivia

Abstract

Evo Morales’ victory in the 2005 presidential election set the stage for the political and social inclusion of Bolivia’s indigenous and peasant population. As part of that ‘process of change’, the Morales government has elevated the concept of ‘Vivir Bien’ (living well) to official status as a guiding principle for all state policies. Viewed as a product of ‘ancestral indigenous logic’, this notion of ‘Vivir Bien’ is discursively imbued with indigenous values such as equilibrium, harmony, and complementarity with Mother Earth and the community, which are held out as an antithesis to the model of capitalist accumulation. However, the idea and its practical application are proving to be problematic. This article focuses on the 2014 Bolivian legislation on child labor and its application in Aymara and Guaraní indigenous communities, arguing that the law suffers from deficiencies in addressing child labor exploitation and that its alleged inspiration in ‘Vivir Bien’ is more a product of urban academic viewpoints than it is of indigenous or peasant perceptions. Beyond this, the legislation on child labor points to a deeper issue: the gradual subsidence of the rights and competences that have been a symbol of the indigenous peoples’ demands since the 1980s.