Translocality and Gender Dynamics: The Pareja and the Thakhi System in Bolivia

Abstract

The article focuses on the transformation of gender roles and concepts of the Bolivian Aymara. It analyses gender‐specific participation in a rural institution, the so‐called thakhi or ‘path of duties', which manifests the cosmological structure that provides the cultural context of gender relations in Aymara society. It guides and reflects human behaviour based on cultural norms. However, ongoing mobility in the context of migration has led to translocally organised lives that are shaped by different horizons of local experience. The example of an evangelical preacher illustrates how established concepts may change in this context.