Located in the upper Napo basin in the western Amazonian region of Ecuador, the Yasuní National Park is widely considered to be one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. In June 2007,...Show moreLocated in the upper Napo basin in the western Amazonian region of Ecuador, the Yasuní National Park is widely considered to be one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. In June 2007, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa Delgado introduced the proposal known as the Yasuní-ITT initiative which aimed to put a moratorium on any future drilling in the area in exchange for compensation from the international community to the tune of US$3.6 billion over a period of approximately 10 years. Although the initiative received overwhelmingly positive and favorable reactions from governments and organizations around the globe, it was cancelled in 2013 by Correa due to lack of funding. The controversy over Correa’s conclusion of the Yasuní-ITT initiative has been a part of larger discussions occurring within Ecuador over the past few decades concerning changing rights, new forms of representation, and alternatives to the traditional development practices. Accompanying these new formulations of citizenship is the idea of ‘sumak kawsay’ or 'buen vivir,' a pluralistic concept stemming from an Andean indigenous cosmovisión which promotes indigenous knowledge, social welfare, democracy and living within ones means and in harmony with ones community, including not only humans but with all aspects of nature, including animals, plants and the elements While buen vivir is appealing to social movements, conservationists and leftist academics both within and outside of Ecuador for a myriad of reasons, the failure of the Yasuní-ITT initiative has cast doubts as to whether it provides an alternative political paradigm that can function economically on a national scale within the capitalist world structure in which we currently operate and exist. This thesis aims to analyze whether sumak kawsay can accomplish its goals of respecting nature within Ecuador while also economically benefitting both the state and the Ecuadorian people.Show less
