Latin American Post-Neoliberal Development Thinking: The Bolivian ‘Turn’ Toward Suma Qamaña&ast

Manuel Mejido Costoya
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Manuel Mejido Costoya: Bangkok, Thailand.

The European Journal of Development Research, 2013, vol. 25, issue 2, 213-229

Abstract: One of the most innovative elements of the current Latin American post-neoliberal context is the attempt to rethink development from the point of view of indigenous cosmovisions. In the Andean region, this dynamic is exemplified by the crystallization of the Suma Qamaña or Living Well paradigm. I want to focus here specifically on the case of Bolivia, taking as my frame of reference the most comprehensive and systematic statement of the Movement Toward Socialism's (MAS) vision of development, namely, the National Development Plan (PND). An important ambiguity, I want to argue in this article, undergirds the PND. The PND elucidates Suma Qamaña from both alternative development and post-development perspectives. That is, the concept is developed as an alternative to liberal capitalism, on one hand, and as the more radical, postcolonial critique of modernity, on the other.L′un des aspects les plus novateurs du contexte post-néolibéral qui prévaut actuellement en Amérique latine est la tentative de repenser le développement à travers les cosmovisions amérindiennes. Dans la région andine cette dynamique se manifeste par la cristallisation du paradigme du Suma Qamaña ou du Bien-Vivre. Je souhaite me concentrer ici sur le cas de la Bolivie, en prenant comme cadre de référence l′énoncé le plus complet et systématique de la vision de développement adoptée par le Mouvement vers le Socialisme (MAS), à savoir le Plan National de Développement (PND). Je cherche à montrer dans cet article qu′une ambiguïté importante sous-tend le PND. Le PND offre une clarification du concept de Suma Qamaña à travers les perspectives tant du développement alternatif que du post-développement. Ainsi, le concept se développe comme une alternative au capitalisme libéral, d′une part, et comme la critique postcoloniale plus radicale de la modernité, de l′autre.

Date: 2013
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