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Buen Vivir: Praise, instrumentalization, and reproductive pathways of good living in Ecuador

Abstract:

In this article, we trace the avatars of the official concept of Buen Vivir (Good Living), and its understanding and translation as Sumak Kausay in the new Constitution of Ecuador, where it was converted from a subaltern concept that emerged in the 1990s to the country’s trademark. Our main hypothesis is that although Buen Vivir may be described as a social phenomenon in some specific social contexts (such as among Amazonian Sarayaku indigenous communities), it mostly represents an invented tradition. As a subordinate hypothesis, we argue that Buen Vivir, which originally appeared at the margins of the State and political power, later became an empty signifier, allowing for its instrumentalization and co-optation by the Citizens’ Revolution and generating an opening for future prospects in the way of operationalization and internationalization that converged with efforts to promote alternative measures and notions of development to the GDP.