Chassagne Natasha - Buen Vivir As an Alternative to Sustainable Development

Buen Vivir as an Alternative to Sustainable Development

Until recently, the concept of Buen Vivir has only been loosely articulated by practising communities and in progressive policy in countries like Ecuador. What it actually means has been unclear, and in the case of policy, contradictory. As such there has been a lack of understanding about exactly what Buen Vivir entails, its core principles, and how to put it into practice. This book, based on extensive theoretical and field research of Buen Vivir as an alternative to sustainable development, fills that gap and offers a concrete way forward. It uses an ethnographic study in Cotacachi County, in Ecuadors highland communities, to explore how communities understand and practice Buen Vivir. Combining this with what we already know about the concept theoretically, the book then develops a framework for Buen Vivir with 17 principles for practice.

Exploring Buen Vivirs evolution from its indigenous origins, academic interpretations, and implications for development policy, to its role in endogenous, community-led change, this book will be of interest to policy-makers and development professionals. It will also be of great value to activists, students, and scholars of sustainability and development seeking grassroots social and environmental change.

Natasha Chassagne is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technologys Centre for Social Impact, Australia. Natashas doctoral research looked at the viability of Buen Vivir as an alternative to Sustainable Development. Natasha is a political scientist by training in international law and international relations, specialising in human rights and environmental law. She has worked as a Sustainability Consultant, and writes and researches on sustainability, wellbeing, and climate change issues.

Routledge Studies in Sustainable Development

This series uniquely brings together original and cutting-edge research on sustainable development. The books in this series tackle difficult and important issues in sustainable development including: values and ethics; sustainability in higher education; climate compatible development; resilience; capitalism and de-growth; sustainable urban development; gender and participation; and well-being.

Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, the series promotes interdisciplinary research for an international readership. The series was recommended in the Guardian s suggested reads on development and the environment.

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Buen Vivir as an Alternative to Sustainable Development

Lessons from Ecuador

Natasha Chassagne

Buen Vivir as an Alternative
to Sustainable Development

Lessons from Ecuador

Natasha Chassagne

First published 2021

by Routledge

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and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2021 Natasha Chassagne

The right of Natasha Chassagne to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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ISBN: 978-0-367-90143-1 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-003-02307-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India

To my children Alexandre and Zara, for whom I am fighting for a better world. And for Antoine, for his unending, unfaltering support and patience along the way.

Contents

Definition of dimensions adapted from Alvarez (2013)

Principles of Buen Vivir (literature)

Core principles of Buen Vivir

Comparison between Sustainable Development Goals and Buen Vivir Principles

Framework for Vivir Bien/Living Well

The world is in peril. Sustainable Development has failed to achieve its social and environmental goals to end poverty and social injustice and to protect the environment and its peoples against the impacts of climate change. As an alternative but derivative model to traditional development, it was mandated with cleaning up the mess that its parent concept left behind. What we need now is to look towards alternatives to Sustainable Development, rather than another reformulation of the status quo.

It is in this predicament that I propose Buen Vivir as a practical and viable alternative to mainstream, neoliberal Sustainable Development and one that can provide a concrete course of action, driven by communities for local needs.

By practical and viable, I mean a practical alternative that has political implications which change the present structure of economic and social relations; but also, one that is an endogenous, community-led process for change that goes beyond policy, discourse, and government rhetoric to improve social and environmental wellbeing, and that is biocentric in its approach.

Let me start by explaining a little bit about how I came to discover Buen Vivir. I was previously employed by a sustainability consulting company working with clients in various sectors. Of these clients, I often worked with major multinational resource extraction companies who would employ us to work with the communities in which they operate to understand the material environmental and social issues directly affecting and being affected by the communities. When working with these communities, I started to notice a coherent dialogue coming through: Our real needs are not being met. Additionally, I could not turn my back to the environmental consequences of the actions of the companies who were instituting programs and projects under the guise of Sustainable Development. At the same time congruent discussions about the contradictions underlying the terminology of sustainability or Sustainable Development started emerging amongst professionals in this area.

Late 2011 to early 2012, I volunteered independently with seven different communities which make up the Cuellaje Parish in Cotacachi County in Ecuador, under guidance from a local advisor to the council. The aim of my volunteer project was to use my knowledge and experience in sustainability to help build local capacity for Sustainable Development; though these communities had already established perspectives and practices rooted in culture and tradition that seemed to me to address some of the issues around Sustainable Development, supported by the worldview of Buen Vivir. The people I met during this time epitomised Buen Vivir. They talked to me about Buen Vivir, and how they wish for an alternative way of doing things. I strongly felt that we could learn valuable lessons from them about wellbeing and sustainability.