“SUMAK KAWSAY OR BUEN VIVIR”, AN ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT MODEL IN THE ANDEAN STATE?

• Autor(a) principal: Cobey, Ryan Joseph
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Bandeira, Mariana Lima
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Farol - Revista de Estudos Organizacionais e Sociedade
• Texto Completo: https://revistas.face.ufmg.br/index.php/farol/article/view/2913
• topic: De-colonialism; Sumak Kawsay; Ecuador´s Development Model

In recent years, Ecuador has experienced a change in governance challenging the traditional Occidental conception of development in culture. This change of ideology has transformed the public policy of the small Andean country, establishing the indigenous Kichwa concepts of “Sumak Kawsay”, “multiculturalismo” and “plurinacionalidad” as significant standards for governance under its new “Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir” development model.This paper draws upon data collected from government documents and public interviews to examine how Ecuador’s new model based on indigenous concepts has been translated into public policy. The results of this investigation show that, despite a strong government embracement of its country’s indigenous heritage through changes to public policy, Ecuador remains functioning within a highly occidental framework. Nevertheless, its indigenous concepts can provide an important context for analyzing alternatives to public policy in Latin America, especially within the Andean region. Understanding better how Ecuador’s buen vivir functions as an alternative to the status-quo Occidental framework based on its indigenous influence can help advance future research regarding alternatives to public policy models in Latin America.