Aymara-Traders and the Bolivian Market for Electronic and Digital Devices in a Regional and Global Context

该研究项目涉及玻利维亚电子和数字设备市场的社会和文化建设和转型。市场被分析为大量当地商人、小型国家商业精英和跨国公司之间关系的网络。观察的主要群体是土著（艾马拉）当地商人，他们对进口、批发和零售贸易有很大影响。当地农村-城市移民的组织和实践知识符合高度动态和现代市场的逻辑。此外，这一群体在土着总统埃沃·莫拉莱斯的政治背景下以及该地区的经济和政治发展中尤其令人感兴趣。除了产生关于玻利维亚经济现实的民族志知识之外，该项目还追求具体的理论目标：一方面，它旨在促进关于经济行动在当地机构和文化世界中的嵌入性的讨论（这包括多元市场和资本主义的问题），以及关于跨国分销链上的社会联系和摩擦（Anna Tsing）的辩论和概念。另一方面，它涉及年轻一代商人的经济实践、性别关系和文化认同，这些主题涉及艾马拉资产阶级在多民族玻利维亚的存在、特点和持久性。

The research project deals with the social and cultural construction and transformation of the market for electronic and digital devices in Bolivia. The market is analysed as a web of relations between a large number of local traders, the small national Business elite and Transnational Corporations. The main group of observation are local traders of indigenous origin (Aymara) who strongly influence importation, wholesale and retail trade. The organisations and practical knowledge of indigenous rural-urban migrants meet the logics of a highly dynamic and modern market. Moreover, this group is especially interesting in the political context of indigenous president Evo Morales and within economic and political developments in the region. Besides the aim to produce ethnographic knowledge on the economic reality of Bolivia, the project persues specific theoretical aims: On the one hand, it aims at contributing to the discussions on the embeddedness of economic action in local institutions and cultural worlds (this includes the question of Multiple Markets and Capitalisms) and to debates and concepts on social interconnections and frictions (Anna Tsing) along transnational distribution chains. On the other hand, it deals with economic practices, gender relations and cultural identities of a young generation of traders, topics that address the existence, peculiarity and persistence of a Aymara-Bourgeousie in pluri-national Bolivia.