Popular Sustainable Development, or Ecological Economics From Below

Many people in Mexico and Latin America are organizing alternative ways of assuring their livelihood and that of their communities. There are numerous examples of people in urban areas promoting local activities, small workshops, and organizing cooperative and markets for local exchanges (through barter or use of local currencies or national monies) within and among communities. But in most of Latin America, these alternatives are emerging among peasants and indigenous groups, organized collectively in rural areas, forging evolving models of social economics that reflect their commitments to a variety of models of social, solidarity, and ecological economies (SSEEs). The proliferation of these initiatives reflects the recognition of their importance for human development and the relationship of socioeconomic processes with the environment.In this chapter, we examine a number of experiences, joining them in an initial conceptualization of the SSEE. The chapter presents an integrated paradigm that highlights the ethical character of exchange, production and consumption processes. These alternatives are widely recognized as contributing to transforming the conception of individuals and their integration into social (collective) organizations, a dynamic that also transform their very essence. They are also changing the logic of production, deepening and extending communal processes, and contributing to improve synergies between the communities and their environments