Vivir Bien: Tracing the Ethos of Plural Progress in Bolivia

Abstract

In thirteen years, Bolivia went from the poorest country in South America to providing a model for inclusive sustainable development and post-colonial nation-building. Today, the world is suffering increasing political polarity, climate change, and an enduring global socioeconomic divide, stemming from imperialism. I looked to Bolivia to find an alternate mode of development that challenged the anthropocentric approach to power and took a non-prescriptive, cooperative approach to building a path forward. I explored three revolutions, examining their motivating ideologies and their relative successes. I studied primary historical and philosophical texts, and I undertook fieldwork in Bolivia, conducting surveys and interviews with individuals across identities and ideologies. The Andean collectivist tradition guided Bolivia through three iterative revolutions. For each, it cultivated a shared (1) motivation for rebellion, (2) rhetoric, (3) body of cultural commonality, and (4) notion of effective development. The most successful of these revolutions was the 2000-2005 political movement which combined Andean collectivism with the country's national popular tradition. The post-revolutionary government found success in extending the Andean ethos, developing a sustainable national project by unifying diverse peoples on a common path: an incremental, adaptive, and collaborative revolution guided by vivir bien.