Abstract
This thesis describes the life and labor of urban migrant women in Sucre, Bolivia. It is based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a local marketplace in Sucre. There, I studied women who worked as independent small-scale traders. The question I aim to answer with this thesis is: how can we understand the coinciding processes of making a living and creating a “life worth living” among urban migrant women in Sucre? I interpret the migrant women as a marginalized group of society due to several factors. As women, they face limitations and responsibilities related to local, cultural representations of gender that men do not. As migrants, they often lack a social network in the city. Originating from the Andean countryside and bearing certain markers of indigenousness, such as language and clothes, make them subjects to various prejudices from other groups in the city. The sum of these factors makes for precarious social and economic conditions of life. To manage economic scarcity and uncertainty, the women take use of various strategies. These strategies usually involve other people, and a core focus throughout this thesis is on social relations. Through relying on others, forming relationships of collaboration and practices of reciprocity, the women manage to survive in precarious conditions. This thesis, however, not only looks at economic projects as means for survival, as they also constitute arenas for creating a life of meaning. I assert that the most beneficial way to understand the income-generating projects and the creation of meaningful lives among urban migrant women in Sucre, is through social relations.