Abstract

This article analytically examines the notion of Andean pastoral work from a critical gender perspective, proposing an epistemic shift in the concept toward one that also incorporates responsibilities linked to forms of care in these Indigenous contexts. The breadth of practices carried out by women is shown to sustain the current challenges of pre-cordillera pastoralism, and its feminization ultimately produces gendered inequalities in access to rest. Drawing on ethnography with Aymara women from three generations who actively practice population mobility between city, valleys, and foothills, the article analyzes three categories through which they conceive their responsibilities: to work, to help, and to accompany. These categories organize a multiplicity of practices that include productive tasks and care work involving not only older women, but also young and middle-aged women with greater urban permanence. The results derive from a qualitative study based on twelve-month multi-sited ethnography in the Arica and Parinacota Region (2022-2023), with twenty-three women connected through kinship networks (mothers, daughters, granddaughters, and daughters-in-law).