The Amerindian Good Living as a Sustainable Alternative to Latin American Development

Abstract

The Amerindian Good Living (GL) appears in the 21st century as a sustainable alternative for development in Latin America. Based on the worldview, the ecological knowledge and the indigenous practice systems. Good living is a philosophy, a concept, a lifestyle of the original peoples, aimed at a life in harmony among all the people of the community, their ecosystems and their culture. In a dialogue of knowledge, between the millennial knowledge and the modern science and technology, promising initiatives arise when it comes to local and planetary sustainability. However, the autochthonous peoples who live the Good Living for thousands of years in their daily lives, satisfying their needs of life while respecting nature and preserving biodiversity, are under pressure and threatened by the unbridled expansion of the predatory development model that jeopardize their territories and ways of living. This paper examines philosophical and political aspects of the Latin American Good Living and how it manifests itself in Amerindian societies, impacting positively in the preservation of local ecosystems, in the perpetuation of indigenous cultures and, finally, in the opening of new possibilities in the search for sustainable alternatives for Latin American development.