by Eduardo Gudynas – One of the most original environmental initiatives in recent years, coming from Ecuador, sought to leave oil in the ground to preserve the Amazonia and its indigenous peoples. It was an idea emerging from civil society that took on concrete form in 2007, under the first government of Rafael Correa, and […]
by Eduardo Gudynas – Extractivism is the appropriation of huge volumes of natural resources or their intensive exploitation, most of them exported as raw materials to global markets. It seems to have gone unnoticed that by this definition the major extractivist in South America is Brazil. This is not always recognized. When we talk of […]
by Eduardo Gudynas – In Latin America strategies are still being advanced focused on mining, hydrocarbons and monoculture, despite the fact that this means repeating the role of suppliers of raw materials and of civic resistance. This extractive mode of being is expressed both in conservative and progressive governments. But as the latter hope for […]
Eduardo Gudynas, a leading scholar on buen vivir, talks to Oliver Balch about the limits of capitalism, consuming less and developing a sense of the collective In buen vivir, humans are only stewards of the earth and its resources, and individual rights subjugated to that of communities and nature. Photograph: Steve Bloom Images/Alamy by Oliver […]
A short review of the differences, similarities and possible articulations between South American ideas on “Buen Vivir” and the European discussion of a Green New Deal. A report by Eduardo Gudynas (CLAES) for the Henrich Boll Foundation office at the European Parliament. Published November 2012. Download the full report here …
An overview at the main trends of the discourse around Buen Vivir in South America. A review of the rich and multiple discourses around Buen Vivir, as a political platform for different visions of alternatives to development. The paradox that development can be declared defunct and yet in the next step promoted as the only […]
by Eduardo Gudynas – Good Living or Living Well encompasses a set of ideas coming forward as both a reaction and an alternative to conventional notions of development. On these terms diverse reflections are accumulating which, with great intensity, explore new creative perspectives, on both the level of ideas and in practice. Given this situation […]
The so-called extractivism, which includes mineral and oil exploitation, has a long history in Latin America. Current exports have been nourished by extractivist activities. Extractivism has continued to play a key role in national economies. It has also occupied a place at the center of powerful struggles because of its economic, social, and environmental impacts. […]
A new global order’ is not something that you can create immediately, but something that needs to be fashioned from alternative ideas that need to be polished, tried out and coordinated, always with the support of civil society. Article by Eduardo Gudynas (CLAES) for newsletter of the Bretton Woods Project, 2009. Download the article here […]
The government of Ecuador has presented a novel proposal to not exploit the oil reserves of the Yasuní National Park. The economic benefits of exporting crude oil are limited compared to the social, economic, and environmental costs of extracting oil from the Amazon, with its enormous ecological and cultural diversity. The report Leaving the Oil […]