Literature Review

World Social Work Day (WSWD), observed on the third Tuesday of March, honours social workers. It is an occasion to reaffirm dedication to well-being programs, universal access and equity, and a fair go for all who receive services from the profession. The concept of harmonious coexistence between communities and nature, as well as the collaboration of social workers and local citizens to create peaceful communities, is critical for a sustainable future. This editorial is a self-congratulatory piece on the identification of the correct theme for future social work, but it also provides a brief explanation of what the 'Buen Vivir': The Good Life theme entails for modern social work practice.

The present investigation constitutes a review and reflection of the new behaviors of political organization and alternative laws that are developing in South American countries, in which we expose various perspectives from which we carry out the theoretical description of old and new concepts, socio-historical and culture-politics. Concerning the theories and ideas built to interpret them, these force us to focus our gaze on those institutions, discourses, strategies, and procedures that were traditionally part of the understanding of what politics and law were. This relation is why, in the face of disenchantment or loss of faith in politics, in our opinion, explanations cannot continue to be constructed that insist on the distances between rulers and the governed, on the crisis of institutions, or the triumph of individualism, in the current era.Therefore, it is necessary to reflect on how technological advancement can lead to a false premise about the ease of political marketing and the impact it has had in Ecuador in recent years, including the application of technology and the design of propaganda as a resource to reach the population and position itself as a political brand.

The different theoretical constructions around the conceptualizations of Buen Vivir and decolonial feminisms have been the subject of fervent debate at the beginning of the governmental periods of Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006 - 2019) and Rafael Correa in Ecuador (2007 - 2017) when Constitutional Assemblies were installed to develop and approve the new Bolivian and Ecuadorian Constitutions. The Assemblies framed unprecedented dialogues of women’s and feminists’ movements with other political and social actors who, like them, wanted to see changes in the deeply colonial histories of their countries. This article analyses the way the Buen Vivir was translated to specific discourses depending on whether it was presented as an indigenous, modern or postmodern proposal and how these translations addressed (or not) women‘s and feminists’ demands ranging from a radical depatriarchalizing process to the more conventional acknowledgment of their rights in the legal systems. These questions present a fundamental challenge because there is neither one discourse of the Buen Vivir nor of feminism, but rather different meanings are attached to them. Rather than deepening into a genealogical or epistemological study of these theoretical and political proposals, this paper explores the contradictions within and between these in the framework of the Constitutional Assemblies in Bolivia and Ecuador. It concludes that, although Buen Vivir and decolonial feminist approaches can be complementary, the conceptualizations of Buen Vivir must not be a horizon that postpones women’s aspirations indefinitely but a daily reality supported by explicit State policies and actions.

This chapter presents the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agreed upon, in 2015, by 195 nations. The objectives combine biosphere, social and economic goals. The argument in this chapter is that the SDG logic is strictly modern, since it has as one of its premises that economic growth (SDG8) is necessary for sustainable development. Since economic growth has historical trade-offs and contradictions with social-oriented and nature-oriented goals, a number of post-development alternatives have emerged from that premise. Here, I examine alternatives emerging in the Global South and the Global North that challenge the sustainable development view. Recent definition of objectives, goals and lessons by these distinct worldviews allowed for a comparison between them and the SDG. This analysis reveals (1) the SDG has gaps related to cultural diversity and to inner dimensions of sustainability and (2) there is more complementarity and synergy between the distinct worldviews than there are trade-offs, although existing trade-offs are substantial. Further dialogue between distinct worldviews will be key to fostering a future state of planetary well-being that allows for the healthy and peaceful coexistence of the various ‘universes’ that inhabit our planet.

In the past few decades, due to the global environmental crisis humanity is facing, a sudden growth in environmental policies and sustainability strategies has been registered. This article discusses two of such policies, namely that of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in the Himalayan country of Bhutan and the inclusion of the concept of Buen Vivir (BV) in the Bolivian Constitution, through a critical analysis—based on political ecology approaches—of their implementation within state policy and their wider implications within the global discourse on the so-called “sustainable development” paradox. This paper highlights the role that the aforementioned policies might play in the path to decolonisation, seeing as how they draw inspiration from their own local contexts and values instead of those provided by the Global North, more specifically focusing on their ancestral and traditional knowledge to supposedly guide the countries’ policy-making process. Although several points of criticism are identified in both policies, innovativeness is detected in their potential to offer alternative views on human wellbeing, both for global southern and global northern contexts, as their original intent would be to remarkably operate outside of the Western framework of development based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and economic growth. GNH appears to be mostly oriented toward supporting political national budget discussion and allocation, while BV acts at a higher level (constitutional), thus also inspiring overall politics.

With growing awareness of limits to growth, debates around sufficiency and degrowth rise to prominence. At the same time, we still witness a great divide between the global ‘north’ and the ‘south’ and innovation, or lack thereof, is oftentimes seen as vital determining factor. In this article we look at two alternative approaches to innovation that place equality and sustainability at centre stage. From a global north perspective, the concept of exnovation of unsustainable practices and technologies has been gaining prominence. Whereas a global south perspective, predominantly in South America, the concept of buen vivir calls for responsible and nature- inclusive approaches to innovation and development. This article presents a reflexive approach that analyses the two alternative pathways of innovation. This study is based on a qualitative review of recent research on these two concepts. We did identify the main characteristics of both concepts in relation to four dimensions within each concept a) Technological, b) Environmental, c) Economic, and d) Social). We contextualise this analysis within theoretical debates in the global North and South in order to better understand its development and historical context, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of alternative concepts of innovation.

While interaction and exchange between cultures is arguably increasing in our globalized world, sentiments reflecting division among cultures and ways of being in the world remain. In particular, the relevance of ideas,theory, and philosophy based on traditional "Western" values and a focus on the individual is often drawn into question for collectivist and community-centred cultures--and vice versa. This has implications foreducation, given that much of the education discourse and approaches based on Western traditions are affecting education system across the globe and across cultures. It is also of particular significance for the educational approach focusing on developing students' own "art of living." While undoubtedly significant fundamental differences exist between most cultures, this article aims to suggest that, nevertheless, synergies and connecting points exist between Schmid's philosophical concept of the "art of living"--which is based on so-called traditional Western philosophy--and the Latin American notion of "buen vivir" (good living)--which is based on the traditions and cultural worldview of Indigenous peoples of this subcontinent. While weacknowledge the vast differences in culture and the depths of the cultural divide, our comparative reviewindicates that connections can be drawn on fundamental ethical aspects of human co-existence. We argue thatthese connecting points suggest that Schmid's philosophy can be of relevance to non-Western cultural contexts,as much as Indigenous ways of knowing and being can be of relevance to those in the "Western" worldpursuing an art of living, which, consequently, indicates that an educational approach to the art of living canbe relevant to diverse cultural contexts beyond Western-centric settings.

This article creates an inter-epistemic dialogue between degrowth and Buen Vivir/sumak kawsay, based on qualitative research conducted in Ecuador. It builds on degrowth scholarship that considers cultural change an integral part of sustainability transformations. The article envisions what that change could look like by evolving non-anthropocentric and de-individualised visions of sustainability transformations. It thereby significantly advances recently reignited debates around limits to growth and artificial scarcity. Buen Vivir/sumak kawsay is an Andean-Amazonian indigenous conceptualisation of Good Living. An engagement with the reciprocal practices, behaviours and rituals of its protagonists yields three lessons for the cultural politics of degrowth. First, cosmological limits to growth are normative constraints to harming the Living World and arise from relational ontologies that embed the human into the natural world. Second, the political economy of Buen Vivir/sumak kawsay produces affective abundance via reciprocity with the non-human world. This offers a de-individualised understanding of abundance for degrowth, beyond enjoyment and provision of universal basic services. In practice, these ideas can be enshrined through Rights of Nature, put forward here as a viable policy option because of its potential to impute relational worldviews into materialist understandings of nature. These pluriverse avenues can enact cultural change towards sustainability transformations.

In 2008, the new and controversial political paradigm Buen Vivir (BV) was introduced in the Ecuadorian Constitution. The drafting of a new constitution was a presidential campaign promise, and the concept of BV became a central objective of the government’s development plan. To implement the principles of BV into state policies, the government launched an alternative economic system known as Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The objective of this study was to analyze how indigenous and non-indigenous people from the rural areas of the Ecuadorian highlands experienced BV and SSE at the community level. For this, face-to-face interviews and focus groups were used for data collection, and Thematic Analysis (TA) was chosen for the analysis. This study suggests a strong association between the implementation of governmental policies based on BV principles and a reduction in levels of poverty and inequality over the past decade. However, not everybody has perceived this transformation as progress, raising concerns about the role of the state as a provider and regulator.

As a particular project of international institutions, development is a way of seeing, assessing, transforming, and imagining the world in relational terms. Interventions are conducted in the name of creating in ‘developing’ and ‘underdeveloped’ places, preferred models of social and economic organisation putatively embodied by the ‘developed’ world. This relational exercise was originally calibrated in terms of a relatively crude comparison between colonies and their metropoles. From the mid-twentieth century onwards, this became a comparison between newly independent nations and their more ‘advanced’ peers in the developed world. But while it has taken dierent forms over time, and constantly mutates, this imagined relation, or model, originates in the West and continues to be anchored by the twin objectives of civilisation and commerce, and in the binary of self and other. This introductory chapter charts three ways to approach thinking about domination and resistance in the context of international law and development.

The realm of animal communication has been of interest to humans for millennia, not merely as a scientific curiosity but also as a profound inquiry into the nature of intelligence, social interaction, and the potential for interspecies understanding. The study of animal communication transcends mere observation; it offers a window into the complex social structures, emotional lives, and cognitive capabilities of nonhuman species. This fascination is deeply rooted in both human evolutionary history and the human quest to understand our place in the natural world. The intricate languages of birds, the alarm calls of primates, and the dance of bees are just a few examples that highlight the rich tapestry of nonhuman communication, each revealing unique aspects of life and survival in the animal kingdom.The significance of these communication systems extends beyond biological and ecological realms; it poses fundamental questions about consciousness, self-awareness, and the potential for emotional and cognitive experiences in nonhuman life forms. This understanding is crucial, not just for the advancement of scientific knowledge, but also for informing ethical and legal considerations regarding our treatment of other species. As we delve deeper into the complexities of animal communication, we are continually challenged to reassess our assumptions about intelligence, sentience, and the rights that arise from these capacities. The study of animal communication, therefore, represents a critical intersection of various disciplines—biology, ecology, ethology, psychology, and (increasingly) law and ethics. Understanding how animals communicate is not just an academic endeavor. Rather, it has profound implications for conservation efforts, animal welfare policies, and the broader discourse on animal rights. It forces us to confront the moral and legal status of nonhuman beings and challenges the anthropocentric view that has long dominated human thought and legal systems.

Notions of development have been used to justify and promote globally certain visions about how to attain wellbeing and progress. In this chapter, I offer an historical analysis of hegemonic development discourses in education and the alternatives that have recently been promoted by organisations such as UNESCO and the OECD. My argument is that these attempts to change hegemonic conceptions of human development are set within a logic of finding development alternatives. They construe the challenges that humanity and the planet are facing as problems that can be addressed with adjustments to current dominant views of human development. As an alternative to development, I discuss the notion of el buen vivir, derived from indigenous South American world views. It is a philosophy of life based on the values of reciprocity and solidarity that challenges the stark Western ontological distinctions between the self, the community, and the environment.