Andes ; Bolivia ; Chachawarmi ; Cultural studies ; Ethnic minority ; Gender ; Household ; Identity ; Ideology ; Power ; Social geography ; Social organization ; Woman ; decolonisation ; gender ; indigenous ; intersectionality
Latin America's turn away from neoliberalism and adoption of decolonising alternatives to devel-opment has been spearheaded—nowhere more so than Bolivia—by indigenous movements. The gender ideology of chachawarmi is part of this decolonisation
programme, but has been criticised for disguising gendered exploitation. These tensions are explored by looking at, in Escobar's words, ‘the concrete struggles within particular communities’. Based on long-term research in rural Bolivia (inter-Andean valley
of Luribay),this article situates the chachawarmi ideal in the multiple influences on the recreation of gender identities, and considers the complex ways in which chachawarmi as mobilised politically may influence gendered power.