What is it about?
Sumak Kawsay or Buen Vivir is a term that has become famous in the last 10 years. However, its representation by decolonial scholars is incomplete and - partially- misleading. This article reads Sumak Kawsay as a political concept of the indigenous movement in Ecuador in relation to post-colonial and decolonial theory.
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Why is it important?
Sumak Kawsay is a case of systematic invisibilization of a political actor. Thus, the indigenous movement disappears as proponent of political ideas and turns into a provider of discursive raw material. This process is nothing else but a colonization. At the same time, the indigenous movement constitutes itself as a decolonial actor, producing its own version of decoloniality in concepts such as Sumak Kawsay.
Perspectives
This is not only a systematic comparision between Sumak Kawsay in academia and in the indigenous movement, but a certain take on decoloniality that highlights the opposition local/global and the necessary local character of any decoloniality (that would imply a redefinition of globality).
Dr. Philipp Altmann
Universidad Central del Ecuador
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sumak Kawsay as an Element of Local Decolonization in Ecuador, Latin American Research Review, January 2017, Latin American Studies Association,
DOI: 10.25222/larr.242.
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