Sustainable Development vs. Sustainable Economies: Notes on Harmony and Plenitude

The Three Co-Existing Trajectories of Global Development

• Conceptual Overview: Walter D. Mignolo proposes a conversation centered on the tension between 'development' and 'living in harmony and plenitude'. This framework identifies three specific trajectories co-existing in the modern era:

  • Rough (Unsustainable) Development: The traditional model of development prioritizing growth, accumulation, and exploitation at the cost of global inequality and environmental degradation.

  • Sustainable Development: A contemporary response to globalization that attempts to change the content of the development conversation to address issues like 'global warming' while maintaining the underlying economic structures of accumulation.

  • Indigenous Cosmologies (Sustainable Economies): Radical alternatives found in indigenous thought that aim to change the terms rather than just the content of the conversation. These cosmologies prioritize balance, harmony, and 'plenitude' over 'development'.

• Fundamental Comparison: While sustainable development seeks to solve environmental crises, it may not address 'global inequality'. Indigenous cosmologies treat development as the root cause of inequality, advocating for a delinking from the ideology of progress.

• Vision for the Future: Taking these options seriously would lead to a pluriversal world order where political organizations (non-state/non-corporate) hold equal weight to traditional institutions like the state and banks.

The Shift from Sustainable Development to Sustainable Economies

• Content vs. Terms: Sustainable development changes the 'content' by adding environmental considerations to the existing framework of 'rough' development. In contrast, sustainable economies change the 'terms' by questioning the necessity of development as a starting point.

• Philosophical Distinction: Living Well vs. Living Better:

  • 'Living Better': The implicit philosophy of development (both rough and sustainable). It is inherently competitive and promotes growing inequality and discontent.

  • 'Living Well' (Buen Vivir): Derived from concepts like Sumak Kawsay (Ecuadorian Quichua) and Suma Qamaa (Bolivian Aymara). It emphasizes harmony and plenitude (conviviality) rather than growth.

• Sustainable Economy Principles:

  • Focus on well-being rather than competitive accumulation.

  • Enacted through cosmologies and 'cosmo-senses' that prioritize the reconstitution of the 'social fabric' (the communal).

  • Detachment from the system of beliefs and institutions of modernity.

Coloniality: The Darker Side of Modernity

• The Concept of Coloniality: Proposed by Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano at the end of the Cold War. It suggests that modernity and globalization cannot exist without coloniality.

• The Racial Axis: Globalization is described as the culmination of Eurocentered capitalism. A fundamental axis of this power model is the social classification of the world's population by race. This mental construction was established in the colonial matrix but has proven more durable than colonialism itself.

• Epistemic-Political Map:

  • Western Perspective: Society is viewed as a part of the economy.

  • Decolonial Perspective: The economy is viewed as merely one aspect of socio-cultural organization.

• World Order Tensions:

  • Re-Westernization: Efforts by the US, EU, and Britain to maintain privileges acquired over the past $500$ years.

  • De-Westernization: States like China, Russia, and Iran delinking from Western institutions to pursue their own destinies.

  • Multipolarity: The move toward a world with multiple power centers, contrasted against the traditional unipolar world order.

The Ontological and Ethical Crisis of Development

• Development as 'Invention': Development, progress, and evolution are not objective representations of history but concepts that 'invent' the world. They enforce a singular view of human destiny where departure from the 'norm' is considered irrelevant.

• Ethical Collapse: The current global crisis is seen more as an ethical collapse than just an economic one. Examples include the disintegration of democratic values in the US, conflicts in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Libya), and the disregard for both human and planetary life.

• The Impact of Technology: Drawing on Ivan Illich ($1978$) and Norbert Wiener ($1950$), the paper critiques the industrial revolution for putting 'the cart before the horse'.

  • Technological devices (cell phones, iPods) increase communication but decrease inter-personal conversation and conviviality.

  • People are transformed into 'communicative and competitive machines'.

  • A 'reversal' is required to put technology at the service of the user to re-establish the communal.

Analysis of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda

• Historical Context: US President Harry Truman introduced the idea of 'development' in his $1949$ inaugural address, which simultaneously created the category of 'underdevelopment'.

• The UN 17 Goals (Agenda 2030): The UN framework defines sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising future generations. It focuses on:

  • Economic growth.

  • Social inclusion.

  • Environmental protection.

• Critical Resolution (Point 3): The UN resolves that by $2030$, they will end poverty and hunger, combat inequalities, protect human rights, and ensure the lasting protection of the planet. Mignolo describes this resolve as 'fantastic' in both the 'great' and 'fictitious' sense of the word.

Constitutional Innovations and the Rights of Nature

• Bolivia ($2009$) and Ecuador ($2008$): These constitutions are cited as radically innovative because they incorporate indigenous cosmologies into state governance.

• Article 71 (Ecuador): States that Nature, or Pachamama, has the right to integral respect for its existence and the maintenance of its life cycles, functions, and evolutionary processes.

• Article 250 (Ecuador): Designates the Amazon territory as part of a necessary ecosystem for environmental balance, ensuring protection under the principle of Sumak Kawsay.

• The Role of Evo Morales: The President of Bolivia occupies an 'ambiguous' position, operating within Western governance models while dwelling in ancestral knowledge to invoke Pachamama and Suma Qamaa.

Re-Defining Pachamama and Cosmo-Convivencia

• Scholarship of Simon Yampara: An Aymara scholar who clarifies that Pachamama is frequently misunderstood when translated simply as 'Mother Earth'.

• Definition of Pachamama: It represents energy (material and spiritual), fertility, and the force that receives sunlight and water to constantly regenerate life.

• Gaia vs. Pachamama: Greek 'cosmo-vision' (Gaia) and Aymara 'cosmo-con-vivencia' (experience of and living in harmony with the cosmos) belong to parallel but independent histories. Pachamama is rooted in communal organization and the wholeness of territory.

International Law and Civilizational Conflicts

• Colonial Matrix of Power: International law has historically functioned as an instrument to manage European imperial interests.

• Adda B. Bozeman's Influence: In her $1971$ book, The Future of Law in a Multicultural World, Bozeman argued for a multipolar world order.

  • She noted that Western leaders held fast to the 'illusion' that their own values and vocabularies were universally meaningful.

  • She argued that political systems are informed by 'substratal cultural forces'.

• Double Standards in Diplomacy: Mignolo highlights contemporary conflicts (e.g., Crimea and Ukraine) to show how international law is used selectively by Western powers to legitimize their interests and delegitimize others.

• 'Emotioning' vs. Reasoning: Decisions are guided by 'emotioning' (what we sense) rather than 'emoting' (expressing emotions). Diplomacy often suppresses what one senses through game-theory technologies.

Concluding Recommendations for Action

• The Trap of Economy: Since $1949$, all spheres of social organization have become part of the economy (development), whereas previously the economy was only one aspect of society.

• Proposed Workshops and Schools: Mignolo suggests the creation of a three-day workshop and bi-annual, two-week schools ($50$ participants max) to:

  • Influence civil and political society through existing institutions.

  • Examine the politics of food, health, education, and 'conversation'.

  • Practice 'learning to unlearn in order to relearn'.

• Gustavo Esteva's Framework: Esteva emphasizes the need to 'regenerate the social fabric of hope' and critiques the failures of environmentalism following the $1992$ Rio de Janeiro Summit.

• The Horizon vs. the Pyramid: Existing institutions are described as 'ill-equipped' because they follow a pyramidal 'leading to contain' model. Mignolo advocates for a horizontal, 'multipolar leadership' to harmonize differences.

• Final Differentiation:

  • Sustainable Development: Can address ecological problems but fails at addressing inequality or meritocratic values that destroy harmony.

  • Sustainable Economies: Enable living in 'harmony, plenitude, and caring' by rejecting the meritocratic success drives that dominate the current global order.