“Living well”—vivir bien or buen vivir in Spanish—is a translation of the Aymara term suma qamaña and the Quechua sumak kawsay, which are now offcially taken up in the constitutions of Bolivia and Ecuador. The language also circulates in other parts of Latin America and even other continents to refer to a utopian alternative with indigenous roots. It does not refer to an existing institution in Andean communities so much as a set of ideals, values, and pursuits that are under debate and construction. It implies, above all, a dynamic equilibrium in the relations between people and with...