2025 Volume 90 Issue 1 Pages 087-101
This paper examines an elopement narrative encountered during fieldwork in Bolivia, aiming to offer new anthropological insights into the concept of "family." The analysis focuses on the ideas of "New Familism" and "anachronism."
While indigenous people in Bolivia constitute the majority of the population, they have historically been a political minority. Recent political changes, symbolized by the election of the country's first indigenous president in 2006, have elevated indigenous values, particularly their idealized family harmony, as political ideals.
This paper critiques the emerging "New Familism" by exploring the experiences of indigenous people, who have faced not only family connection but also conflict and rupture amid political and social transformations. Through the narrative of a couple from Cochabamba in the 1980s, the paper highlights generational differences regarding indigenous identity and elopement. It proposes a view of Bolivian families as a collective of anachronisms, embracing diverse historical and generational contexts.
