Reimagining value from Bolivia's popular markets: Economic diversity in El Alto

SPEAKERS: Kate Maclean, University College London

DISCUSSANT: Soledad Valdivia, University of Leiden

DATE: 13 June 2025

ACTIVITY: CEDLA LECTURE

This lecture explores the livelihood strategies of indigenous women working in El Alto’s vibrant popular markets, offering a new way to think about modernity, value, and economic inclusion—grounded in their worldviews and practices. These markets have been central to Bolivia’s evolving economy, but the ideas and activities of urban indigenous women have often been overlooked, even in the radical decolonial vision promoted by Evo Morales’ government. While his commitment to an ‘economy where all economies fit’ promised plurality, indigenous feminists have observed that it remained shaped by a masculine, rural lens.

Drawing on twelve years of research into rural credit, contraband trade, and the rise of an indigenous bourgeoisie transforming Bolivia’s cities through architecture and fashion, this talk reimagines economic inclusion from the ground up. It challenges both orthodox and heterodox assumptions about value, scale, and national production, offering a hopeful vision for economies that embrace diversity on their own terms.