How socio-economic conditions shape empowerment of indigenous women in El Alto’s tourism sector

Anna Lavooi ()
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Anna Lavooi: CIDES-UMSA

No 225, Investigación & Desarrollo from Universidad Privada Boliviana

Abstract: This article examines the role of socio-economic conditions in shaping empowerment, based on an ethnograph-ic study conducted in 2022–2023 with three groups of indige-nous women working in the tourism sector in El Alto, Bolivia: Cholitas Escaladoras, Cholitas Luchadoras, and female guides. The study shows that socio-economic structures contribute to both empowerment and disempowerment. In the context of El Alto, social capital, including family networks and associa-tions, and labour relations emerge as key factors. Horizontal labour relations, which foster collaboration and shared deci-sion-making, are associated with greater economic, social, and political empowerment, while vertical structures tend to limit agencyand create dependency. These findings underscore the importance of considering contextual socio-economic condi-tions when analysing empowerment, offering a holistic under-standing of how it manifests across different groups.

Keywords: Empowerment; Indigenous women; Tourism; So-cio-economic conditions; Social capital; Labour relations. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 O15 Z32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 12 pages
Date: 2025
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Published in Investigación & Desarrollo, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 16-27 (2025)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iad:wpaper:0225

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