From Latin America to Asia
Vivir Bien
Learning from our roots
A conversation on
Published by Focus on the Global South
CUSRI 4th Floor Wisit Prachuabmoh Building
Chulalongkorn University
Phayathai Road, Bangkok
THAILAND
www.focusweb.org
August 2013
With support from Siemenpuu Foundation
Focus believes in the Commons and thus encourages the use of the contents
of this pamphlet; the request is merely for proper acknowledgement as source.
Focus also acknowledges the participation in the conversations/forums
of the following organizations:
India
Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan
SEBA JAGAT
National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)
South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy (SADED)
Philippines
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
Lilak: Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights
Kampanya Para Sa Makataong Pamumuhay (KAMP)
Thailand
FTA Watch
Thai Climate Justice Working Group
Layout and Design: Amy Tejada
About the Cover
Walter Solon Romero, “Tunupa” fragment of the mural “El Retrato de
un Pueblo” (The portrait of a People) 1985 - 1989, technic pyroxylin,
Universidad Mayor de San Andres, La Paz - Bolivia.
1
What is Vivir Bien?
Vivir Bien is a Spanish word that refers to the way of life of indigenous
peoples in South America. The Aymara people call it sumaqamaña, the
Quechua, sumakkawsay, the Peruvian Amazon, Kametsa Asaiki and the
Guaraní, ñandereko. It can also be translated as “living well,” “good life,”
“knowing how to live,” “inclusive life,” “sweet life,” among others.
The practice of “Vivir Bien” or “Buen Vivir” may differ depending on the
history, location and culture of each indigenous community in the Andes of
South America. But underlying such particularities are some common elements
that have been identified and developed into a concept now codified in the
constitutions of Ecuador and the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
Many of the underlying principles of “Vivir Bien” can be found in indigenous
cultures all over the world. Indigenous peoples of the Philippines use
different native terms to refer to what they call “simple life,” where one has
enough to enjoy life. They also use the words hayahay, hamugaway, gumpi-a
katubo. In India they speak of the Adivasi1
way of life. In many cases there
are no exact words, but there are similar practices.
What then do these visions have in common? What can we learn from them
that can help build our future?
We are currently in a systemic crisis, caused by the capitalist system,which
highlights the urgency of finding and creating alternative systems. One key
source is our roots located in the non-capitalist societies–experiences,
wisdom, knowledge, and practices that indigenous peoples all over the
world have preserved. We are not talking about a utopian return to a precolonial
past, but of the merging of lessons from our ancestors with those
from today to build something new. To enlighten the future, we need to
learn from things from the past that remain relevant in the present.
Some key concepts for an alternative society
One way to approach the heterogeneous and living concept of “Living Well”
is by contrasting it with another vision, what many indigenous peoples
of the Andes in South America call “Living Better” in reference to the
capitalist way of life.
Bio-society vs. Human-society
In “Living Well,” humans are an integral part of nature, and the two are not
taken as separate identities. The goal of humans is not to control nature
1 This word consists of “adi” (original) and “vasi” (inhabitant).
2
but to take care of nature as one takes care of one’s mother that has given
one’s life. This is where the expression “Mother Earth” comes from. This
means that society cannot be understood only in relation to humans but
as a community that has nature at the center. On the other side is the
anthropocentric vision of “Living Better,” embodied in the words of the
1992 Rio Declaration where “human beings are at the center of concern for
sustainable development.”
For the Adivasis, the word Adivasi encompasses not only people but
also trees, rivers, wild animals, air, wind, etc. The life of the Adivasis in
India is inseparable from the forest. A similar relationship with nature is
characteristic of indigenous communities in Thailand, the Philippines and all
over the world. The dichotomy between nature and humans does not exist.
We are all part of nature and we have to respect nature. The ceremonies
that pay tribute to nature vary in different indigenous communities all over
the world but all of them worship nature. For example, the Subanen in the
Philippines express their respect through the ritual of maguras which is
performed to seek permission from the spirit guardians of Earth.
“We are not 200 years backwards, but 200 years ahead,” said and Avidasi
participant from India.
A post-capitalist society has to recover this relationship that the Adivasis
of the world have preserved. We need to change not only the economy and
the political system but also, and mainly, our relationship with nature.
Rethinking alternatives based on indigenous visions
Focus on the Global South recently undertook a series of exploratory discussions
with indigenous peoples, social movements and civil society organizations in Asia
to see what can be learned about the concept of “Vivir Bien” as developed in
South America; how similar concepts are practiced throughout Asian societies, and
whether these concepts can provide feasible alternatives to the neoliberal model.
This publication is based on those discussions, which occurred in Thailand, India
and the Philippines in the first months of 2013.
While found at the opposite ends of the Earth, Asia and Latin America have many
parallel experiences in modern history, such as being governed by neoliberal policies
creating widespread social and ecological damage in the name of economic growth.
Social movements in both regions have responded by developing alternatives that
promote the welfare of people and the planet over the interests of corporations
and international capital. One such alternative which has gained much attention
in recent years is Vivir Bien, or Living Well, developed from common beliefs of
indigenous peoples in South America.
3
The new society has to be a Bio-society and not only a Human-society.
This means that society has to recognize and preserve the vital cycles of
nature, like the water cycle, and the existence of millions of living beings in
biodiversity. We humans may think that we know more but maybe we know
less, though we think we are superior to nature. How can we organize the
economy, the legal system and democracy to strengthen nature? These are
some of the most important challenges for a new society.
Harmony vs. Growth
For “Living Well” the goal is harmony, for “Living Better” it is growth. One
vision recognizes that our planet has physical limits and wants to live in
equilibrium within these limits. The other wants to find ways to expand
beyond the limits. Without growth, the current capitalist system cannot
exist. The “Living Well” vision claims exactly the opposite: we can only live
if we look for balance. Harmony is not an idyllic status or an end to history.
In harmony, there are different sides and emerging contradictions that need
to be rebalanced.
Indigenous peoples in the Philippines speak about having enough to
sustain life. The purpose of life is not to progress permanently but to have
what is necessary to enjoy life.
In the Andean communities of South America the evolution of time is not
linear but circular. The concept of progress does not exist or is relative.
Growth is not constant. One society/community or generation is not superior
to its predecessors. Sometimes going backwards implies a different context.
Not all indigenous cultures have these concepts of time and “evolution,” but
almost all have rituals to remember and learn from their ancestors.
A new society has to live under a different paradigm of evolution. The
linear progress is not possible in a finite planet. The purpose of humanity
is not to be always superior but to find how to solve the emerging
contradictions seeking for balance. This is the great challenge for the 21st
century. Our mindset has been shaped to think about having more. The
key concept of the capitalist system is growth; without economic growth,
capital cannot expand and make more profit. And capital that does not have
a return is not capital.
Many concepts based on this linear vision have to be revised under a new
way of life. What is poverty and wealth? Are the developed countries more
developed? What does the “right to development” mean? Does it mean the
right to follow the same path of development of those capitalist countries
that have created a climate crisis with their greenhouse gases? How can we
seek balance in a finite planet? Through development (labeled sustainable,
integral, etc., but always development) or through redistribution to
address inequality?
4
Community vs. Individualism
When “Living Better,” the focus is on the individual. An individual has
to grow, and be better than others even if this means the exploitation of
other humans and of nature. Such a society is built not on humanism but
on individualism. In “Living Well,” the key is to live in the community
with others and nature. Asian cultures are also often known to value
community, as in India where many indigenous communities do not believe
in private property, but see communities as necessary for helping each other.
Excommunication from such a community is feared more than death, because
an individual without the community is meaningless. Major milestones are
not confined to an individual but shared with the entire community–in this
sense, when a child is born, the whole village celebrates, and a marriage
is not merely between two people but a bond between two villages. This
concept is also prevalent in the Philippines, better expressed in the
indigenous term pamayanan than in the loan word komunidad.
Governed by the philosophy of adivasi, there are more egalitarian
communities in India that live mainly from the forest without relying on
agriculture.
The indigenous communities in the Andes of South America are not
egalitarian. There is private property and communitarian property.
There are differences and in many cases tensions. They do not negate
those individualities but try to live with them through different ways of
redistribution such as the responsibility to cover the costs of a community
celebration or assigning tasks to the wealthiest as their means to serve
the community.
Indigenous communities vary from region to region and country to country,
but all over the world the main responsibility of indigenous peoples is
toward their community.
A post-capitalist society has to relearn to live in communities while
respecting diversity. The individual cannot be above the community.
Individuals need the support of the community in order to flourish and
in return to enrich the community. It is not the denial of the individual
but the recognition that what we are as individuals is a product of the
inheritance of communities. This is the case for example of individual
knowledge that is always based on previous knowledge in our communities
and, as Thai social movements say, it cannot be privatized through trade
agreements only to benefit a few corporations.
Complementarity vs. Competition
The vision of “Living Well” does not affirm that everybody is the same or
has to be the same. Differences and particularities are part of nature and
Who are indigenous peoples?
Indigenous peoples are spread across to at least 72 countries worldwide.
Practicing unique traditions, they have retained social, cultural, economic and
political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in
which they now live. The United Nations has not adopted an official definition of
the term “indigenous,” though it has prevailed as a generic term for many years.
In some countries, there may be preference for other terms including tribes, first
peoples/nations, aboriginals, ethnic groups, adivasi, janajati.2
Estimations say that indigenous peoples are between 300 to 370 million,
representing around six percent of the world population. There is a lot of
discussion about these figures; in cases like Indonesia, the government recognizes
only 1.1 million indigenous people as komunitas adat terpencil (geographicallyisolated
customary law communities). However, the national indigenous peoples’
alliance, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), estimates that there are
between 50 to 70 million indigenous peoples in Indonesia from a national general
population of 220 million.3
Asia contains 70 percent of the world’s present-day indigenous populations
according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. India has the
largest indigenous population with 84 million adivasis that represent 8.2 percent
of the national population.
The Philippines has more
than 10 million indigenous
peoples and in Thailand
officially only a million
are recognized. Almost
two million of Ecuador’s
14 million inhabitants are
indigenous, and Bolivia
has around six million,
representing 62 percent of
the population. In 2005 an
indigenous president was
elected for the first time in
Bolivian history through 54
percent of the votes.
5
2 http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf
3 The Indigenous World 2013 by International Work Group for Indigenous Affairshttp://www.iwgia.
org/iwgia_files_publications_files/0613_EB-THE_INDIGENOUS_ORLD_2013.pdf
Art by Federico “Boy” Dominquez;
entitled “Karagdagan”
6
life. We have to complement each other in order to complete a balanced
whole. The logic of “Living Better” is to compete and try to be better than
the others, because the moment one stops competing others will take
the lead, and those left behind lose. The Adivasis have a similar concept
of mutuality, with critical problems being solved communally. A similar
approach exists in many indigenous communities where key issues are
addressed in community meetings.
The current capitalist logic says that to be more efficient humans/societies
need to compete. The main battlefield for competition is the market. A
restrained market results in inefficiency. Solidarity and kindness are merely
ceremonial principles while the rules for free competition are established in
hard law at national and international levels. The most developed expressions
of this logic are free trade agreements. Countries have to focus on the sectors
where they have comparative advantages to compete with other countries.
Whoever conquers more markets and raw materials sources leads. This logic of
free competition is destroying small farmers, countries and nature.
For centuries, indigenous peoples in the Andes have practiced
complementarity instead of competition. This is now being lost to the
penetration of the market and capital. Complementarity means a community
has to join efforts with other communities in order to live and thrive. The
goal is not to beat the other communities but to see how together we can
A Warli painting by Jivya Soma Mashe,Thane district (from Wikimedia commons)
The Warlis or Varlis are an indigenous tribe or Adivasis, living in mountainous as well as
coastal areas of the Maharashtra-Gujarat border and surrounding areas.
7
share what Mother Earth has given us. There are processes of exchange
based on the values of use of different products.
Complementarity seeks optimization by combining forces. The more one
complements others, the more there is resiliency. The application of
this principle to trade changes absolutely the current logic of free trade
agreements that are designed to benefit corporations more than people
and countries.
Complementarity in the “Vivir Bien” vision is not the union of only “good”
forces, but of “opposite” forces too. There is not pure good or pure bad. Both
are part of reality and the challenge is to seek balance between them and to
complement them. Complementarity does not lead to neutrality but builds
upon the contradictions of reality without trying to make everything uniform.
Integrality vs. Materiality
For “Living Better” the measure of accomplishment in life are the material
things. The more one has accumulated, the higher one’s status. Everything
is reduced to money and this is the key indicator of moving forward or
backwards in this endless growth. This is why all aspects of life are monetized
and those that cannot be quantified and brought into the market does not
count, like the invisible domestic work of wives or the gusts of wind. On the
other hand, “Living Well” focuses on all parts of life: to eat well, to dance
well, to sleep well, to drink well, to practice one’s beliefs, to work with
one’s community, to care for nature, to care for the elderly, to express one’s
creativity, to listen, to respect others…to die well. Some sectors in the
Philippines refer to a similar concept as the desire for a “simple life,” where
basic human needs are met such as food, decent living conditions, education,
medicine, in a life of peace without discrimination, violence or conflict.
For indigenous peoples all over the world the spiritual life cannot be
separated from the material life. The Adivasis define themselves as spiritual
communities that live with their ancestors in the forests. To them, all
things are infused with the divine spirit and are deserving of respect.
They use nature only to meet their needs, not to satisfy their greed. In
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Adivasis managed to survive the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami by interpreting the messages of the seashore and the
animals. They ran together with the elephants, cattle, dogs and snakes to
the highest parts of their islands just before the tsunami waves came.4
We need to redefine wellbeing or welfare to build a new post-capitalist
society. The more holistic approach of indigenous people to the purpose of
life is key to this process.
4 http://www.maanystavat.fi/online/Adivasi%20Ecological%20Democracy%20of%20
Wild%20Forests
8
Learning about the flaws,
weaknesses and contradictions
Indigenous peoples’ way of life are a great source of knowledge to build
upon, but it cannot be idealized nor replicated without taking into account
different contexts. As in any society there are contradictions and practices
that should be overcome. In the Andes of South America a lot have been
written about the chacha-warmi, the relation between man and woman, where
the only way to become jaqi (human being) is through the marital union. But
the reality is that in many situations women does not have the same rights
and advantages as men in indigenous communities. A new post-capitalist
society has to overcome the patriarchal practices in all communities.
For the Subanen of southern Philippines, preservation of culture does
not mean being backwards and anti-development. Positive developments
have been made in relation to women’s roles. Women are seen as the main
preservers of culture. Women and children are now given more recognition
and voice in decision-making, and women are active leaders.
Art depicting life in a Warli community
(from www.handcraft.co.in: Warli Painting-Warli Dance-HandCraft.)
Indigenous people:
Strengthening and spreading the resistance to all sectors
All over the world indigenous peoples and peasants are being displaced from their land
forest, rivers and coastal homelands. Their territories and natural resources are the
targets of mining corporations, real estate companies, mega dams, industrial corridors,
‘fracking’ businesses, infrastructure projects, agribusiness and others. Biodiversity
and knowledge are also being ‘grabbed’. Through different mechanisms of Intellectual
Property Rights their seeds and wisdom are being privatized. Now new mechanisms for
financialization of nature like REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation) are being used to displace those that for centuries have preserved the
forests. There have been increasing media reports on human rights violations committed
against them. Indigenous peoples and peasants all over the world are under attack
because of the expansion of capital.
There are resistance struggles from indigenous peoples in all continents. Some are
able to temporarily stop those projects or to limit their damage. In other cases they
see their territory shrinking and they migrate to urban slums. The discussion about
Vivir Bien is also a discussion about how to strengthen and spread their resistance to
other social movements. The future of indigenous peoples relies on their ability to win
not only the support of other sectors, but also to show that their struggles are not
only for indigenous peoples but for all sectors, as seen in the struggle against water
privatization or opposition to GMOs.
9
All indigenous communities have developed in rural areas. Seeds, water, land
and forests are central to their reality. This is not the situation in urban areas,
where new issues like energy, transportation, waste, mass media and money
have emerged. If the principles of Vivir Bien and the Philippine indigenous
communities were to be followed, how would society change? What would
be the roles of money, markets and finance? What would be the relationship
between the economy and nature? What would be the implications for work,
salaries and profit? When it comes to laws and rights, how should they be
addressed? How would democracy and governance be structured?
Many principles of indigenous communities can help in the search for
alternatives in these key aspects but much more need to be explored, taking
into account different contemporary experiences.
The construction and implementation of a new paradigm is far from simple.
Even after Vivir Bien was enshrined in the Constitutions of Ecuador and
Bolivia, we have seen the governments continue to pursue policies that
are much more aimed at Living Better. What is missing to strengthen the
connection between vision and practice? Why this contradiction between
what is said and what is done?
To learn about our roots we also must recognize the contradictions, flaws
and weaknesses of the different societies.