Thinking global, living local: Voices in a globalized world

  • La angustia del buen vivir

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    Sumak Kawsay is an indigenous concept that involves good living and being responsible with all beings that surround us, including nature. In Ecuador, this concept (which comes from the Quechua language) was included in the final draft of the Constitution in 2008. It is the first time that the country speaks of the Rights of Nature, giving plants and land the same rights enjoyed by humans. But over the years, many fear that the urge for money can or will destroy this concept  and allow the indiscriminate exploitation of oil and mining, conceived by some politicians and enterprises as the only source to increase national income, affecting people and nature. Is Sumak Kawsay strong enough in Ecuador?

     

  • En Colombia el bienestar no proviene del Estado

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    Abstract: Colombian population has great expectations toward the State. Many sectors demand that its involvement in social issues is necessary to reduce poverty and inequality. Since a new Constitution was adopted in 1991 this has been a mandate implicit in the concept of a social state under the rule of […]

  • Cartel de una campaña a favor de un proceso de revocatoria

    ¿Es la revocatoria una auténtica manifestación popular?

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    Las democracias en Latinoamérica han sido un ir y venir que, más que mostrarlas frágiles, han demostrado que el continente busca sus propios caminos en lo que respecta a política.
    Los recientes procesos (o intentos) de revocatoria en países como Perú, Colombia, Argentina y Bolivia, ponen en evidencia un clima político particular para la región, que resulta inédito en otros ámbitos geográficos, para cuyo análisis habría que remontarse a una historia, un poco más lejana, en la que no todos teníamos derecho al voto. A través del presente artículo, y a partir de la voz de algunos teóricos, se busca poner en evidencia que cuando se trata de hablar de revocatorias el asunto va más allá de que se unan los ciudadanos o se reúnan firmas. ¿Podría ser la revocatoria  un proceso antidemocrático?

  • La llegada de Julieta

    Parto en casa: nacer no es una enfermedad

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    Abstract: For medicine, pregnancy is considered a disease and childbirth is part of a surgical protocol. The “clinicalization” of labor involves the intervention of a number of violent and invasive procedures that have been standardized. A process as natural as birth has become a totally unnatural event and manipulated, but […]

  • El bolsillo roto de papá Estado

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    Abstract: At the end of 2012, the debt of El Salvador reached $13,480.1 million, about 56.5% of the Gross Domestic Product. The Government has a limited income but a growing spenditure, and nowadays maintains a list of subsides on products and services that costs over $400 million. This subsides have […]