The Vivir Bien Rhetoric and Afro-Bolivian Women’s Struggles for Recognition and Inclusive Citizenship

In many parts of Latin America, the concept of Living Well (Buen Vivir/Vivir Bien), which is seen to originate from Indigenous peoples’ cosmovisions and encompasses such values as solidarity, inclusivity, and human and more-than-human conviviality, has been presented as an alternative life philosophy beyond individualistic, economistic, and ‘Western’ development. In Bolivia, the Afro-Bolivians vested many hopes and expectations in the concept of Vivir Bien, as its emphasis on community and decolonization resonated well with their African diaspora experience. However, despite such victories as their recognition in the 2009 constitution and the new legislation against racism, the specific needs and rights of the Afro-Bolivian community have not, to a large extent, been met. Based on Afro-Bolivian women’s perceptions of desirable futures and experiences concerning the contradictory realities of Vivir Bien policies, the chapter discusses the gaps between romanticised Vivir Bien rhetoric, as employed by state authorities, and the concrete struggles of Afro-Bolivian women for recognition and inclusive citizenship. At the face of government neglect and multiple discrimination in public spheres, the value of, and support by, fellow Afro-Bolivian women and their autonomous organising, particularly as manifested in saya – an Afro-Bolivian dance and music genre – creates spaces for resistance and alternative visioning and practices.