Introduction

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the concept of well-being as practised and articulated by my informants in the Bolivian plateau in 2004. I imply that contextualisation in terms of time and space is important to shed light on issues emerging when engaging with well-being. Well-being in the neighbourhoods of Senkata and Amachuma (El Alto, Bolivia) is considered a value, locally defined as Suma Jakaña or ‘the good life’ at the household level and Suma Qamaña or ‘the good life’ at the community level. The latter is mainly defined as an ideal often very difficult to achieve. I also touch on Sen’s capability approach and on the impact of social relations. This chapter introduces how the book tries to overcome the quantification bias by creating an account of ‘the good life’ in a specific place. Rather than numbers, this research focuses on local narratives, emphasising the urgent need to include a wider range of methodological approaches when researching well-being.