Bolivian textile crafts and the subversion of institutionalized sustainability

Abstract

This article describes the tensions between institutionalized and grassroots forms of sustainability and their subsequent effects on textile artisans in La Paz, Bolivia. Principles of the indigenous cosmology Suma Qamaña are applied to the twenty-first-century challenge of environmental degradation and governmental corruption in the description of craft practices at two artisan collectives in La Paz. Suma Qamaña is an expression of the harmonious and respectful coexistence of humans with nature, which entails communal values and reciprocal resource management principles. The study highlights grassroots, practical solutions that encourage economic and environmental sustainability for textile cooperatives in Bolivia. Through extensive participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study seeks to understand how the lives of artisans are affected by the Bolivian government’s appropriation of the Suma Qamaña cosmology. The current political party, the Movimiento al Socialismo, has gained popular support in Bolivia partly by institutionalizing the inherent rights of nature in the national constitution. Despite this, the government continues to pursue extractive natural resource policies. To counter this, Bolivian textile artisans practise their own version of bottom-up sustainability, which does not rely on government institutions to enforce change. The artisans’ situated practices, traditional knowledge base and the inherently sustainable characteristics of craft production – flexible, small-scale, localized and resilient – reflect potential trends and alternatives for apparel production.