The Amerindian Good Living as a Sustainable Alternative …
265
4 Amerindian Good Living as an Alternative to Latin
American Development
Considering the worsening of the global socio-environmental crisis, which has its
consequences widely spread (global warming, climate change, pollution, violence,
misery…), it is necessary to search for other ideas that offer diversified points of view
in relation to the development which is propagated to the four winds as the solution
to all problems, but that does not always really match the expectations created in
the population. This development, which carries with it assumptions contemplated
in modernity such as economic growth, industrialization, historical linear progress
and urbanization, fails in its basic promises to provide a higher quality of life for the
populations of the so-called “underdeveloped” nations.
It is undeniable that we have achieved much in recent years in terms of economic
growth, infrastructure, expansion of roads and ports to flow grain and ore production
and the construction of large hydroelectric plants. We are connected to the internet
and thereby we greatly increase the possibilities of personal and professional relationships. Finally we have a development along the lines of the “West” considering
that most of these forms of expansion have been propagated from the West. But even
with all that progress, most countries are still less economically developed than the
countries that propagated the hegemonic development model, so the countries are
still divided into developed and underdeveloped.
Faced with the issue of development in Latin America and mainly in regions
with rich in biodiversity ecosystems and local cultures, as the case of the Brazilian
Amazon, we search for alternatives to the hegemonic development model based on
the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples who still holds important points of
their culture, but who do not give up the benefits of science and modern technology
in the monitoring and protection of their territories for example.
Every study that tries to criticize the current model of development is exposed to
the question: but then, what alternatives are available to the hegemonic development
model?
It should be clear that there are no great alternatives that can be applied everywhere and in all situations. Thinking of the alternatives under the mode of sustainable
development, for example, is to be located within the same model of thought that
produces development and that sustains it. One must resist the desire to formulate
alternatives at the macro and abstract level. The nature of alternatives as a problem of
social research and practice can best be seen from its specific manifestations in concrete places. In a sense, “the alternative” has always been there. The deconstruction
of development, along with local ethnographies can be key elements for a new kind
of visibility and audibility of the forms of difference and cultural hybridization. The
subalterns do speak, however, their audibility in the “Western” circles of discussion
and theories is tenuous, not to say null (Escobar 2007).
For example, a group of Swedish anthropologists work on how the concepts of
“development” and “modernity” are used, interpreted, and how they are questioned or
reproduced in various social contexts from different parts of the world. This research
265
4 Amerindian Good Living as an Alternative to Latin
American Development
Considering the worsening of the global socio-environmental crisis, which has its
consequences widely spread (global warming, climate change, pollution, violence,
misery…), it is necessary to search for other ideas that offer diversified points of view
in relation to the development which is propagated to the four winds as the solution
to all problems, but that does not always really match the expectations created in
the population. This development, which carries with it assumptions contemplated
in modernity such as economic growth, industrialization, historical linear progress
and urbanization, fails in its basic promises to provide a higher quality of life for the
populations of the so-called “underdeveloped” nations.
It is undeniable that we have achieved much in recent years in terms of economic
growth, infrastructure, expansion of roads and ports to flow grain and ore production
and the construction of large hydroelectric plants. We are connected to the internet
and thereby we greatly increase the possibilities of personal and professional relationships. Finally we have a development along the lines of the “West” considering
that most of these forms of expansion have been propagated from the West. But even
with all that progress, most countries are still less economically developed than the
countries that propagated the hegemonic development model, so the countries are
still divided into developed and underdeveloped.
Faced with the issue of development in Latin America and mainly in regions
with rich in biodiversity ecosystems and local cultures, as the case of the Brazilian
Amazon, we search for alternatives to the hegemonic development model based on
the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples who still holds important points of
their culture, but who do not give up the benefits of science and modern technology
in the monitoring and protection of their territories for example.
Every study that tries to criticize the current model of development is exposed to
the question: but then, what alternatives are available to the hegemonic development
model?
It should be clear that there are no great alternatives that can be applied everywhere and in all situations. Thinking of the alternatives under the mode of sustainable
development, for example, is to be located within the same model of thought that
produces development and that sustains it. One must resist the desire to formulate
alternatives at the macro and abstract level. The nature of alternatives as a problem of
social research and practice can best be seen from its specific manifestations in concrete places. In a sense, “the alternative” has always been there. The deconstruction
of development, along with local ethnographies can be key elements for a new kind
of visibility and audibility of the forms of difference and cultural hybridization. The
subalterns do speak, however, their audibility in the “Western” circles of discussion
and theories is tenuous, not to say null (Escobar 2007).
For example, a group of Swedish anthropologists work on how the concepts of
“development” and “modernity” are used, interpreted, and how they are questioned or
reproduced in various social contexts from different parts of the world. This research