In the context of the prevailing abundance of diversity (biological, ethnic), the profound social inequalities, and the trends and attitudes of hegemonic forces in Latin America, a coherent process of environmental governance is proving difficult and environmental injustice is aggravated....

This paper examines the possibility of understanding and measuring well-being as a result of “progress” on the basis of today’s dominant epistemological framework. Market criteria distort social values by allowing purchasing power to define priorities, likening luxury goods to basic needs;...

Building social alternatives is necessary to resist the destructive impacts of the capitalist organization on well-being, social organization, and the planet. This paper offers an analysis of the ways in which peoples are mobilizing to build organizations and to define social movements to move...

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...

This chapter examines the process that went into developing constructive strategies to facilitate the survival of the hundreds of ethnic groups that continue to inhabit the highlands of Latin America. Many of these productive and cultural building blocks have endured until today, undergoing a...

Dominant approaches to rural development have proven unable to confront the structural challenges posed by a system where progress itself generates hunger and increasing environmental damage. This article places its accent on the direct action of communities to organize themselves to satisfy...