Más allá del desarrollo sustentable: deconolialidad y la praxis del Buen Vivir en Saraguro.

Abstract

Abstract: This research analyzes the limitations of the sustainable development paradigm from a decolonial perspective, based on a study of the Las Lagunas and Ilinchos communities belonging to the Saraguro Indigenous people, located in the province of Loja, Ecuador. The objective was to understand how ancestral worldviews and community practices linked to Sumak Kawsay (Good Living) constitute a theoretical and practical alternative to hegemonic development models. A qualitative methodological approach was employed, based on in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, with the number of interviews increasing throughout the research process to strengthen the validity of the findings. The results show that the Saraguro people maintain forms of social organization based on reciprocity, the minga (collective work), and respect for Pachamama (Mother Earth), which challenge the extractivist and productivist logics of conventional development. Furthermore, tensions were identified between the normative recognition of Good Living in Ecuador and its limited effective application in Indigenous territories. It is concluded that the Saraguro community practices constitute expressions of cultural resistance and concrete proposals to reconfigure the relationship between society and nature, contributing relevant elements for the design of intercultural public policies.