Open AccessEducation for a good life: tracing how Sumak Kawsay and Sufficiency Economy became ideals for living well
Author(s) -
Salzman Para,
Gioconda Coello
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
revista asia américa latina
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2524-9347
DOI - 10.33177/6.4
Subject(s) - ideal (ethics) , virtue , indigenous , the good life , environmental ethics , sociology , politics , identity (music) , aesthetics , political economy , political science , epistemology , law , philosophy , ecology , biology
Both Sumak Kawsay (SK) in Ecuador and SufficiencyEconomy (SE) in Thailand are stories of virtue, identity and progressthat bring about an ideal citizen and lifestyle claimed to be good forall, but which are in fact problematic and dangerous for many. Thesenotions arose in political and educational discourses as a promise to“rescue” “indigenous” values; to make possible ways of good-livingbetter suited for each of these countries than “Western” notions ofwell-being. It is problematic that in trying to make the idea of progress“indigenous” these proposals (re)inscribe particular historicallytransmitted ideas of who an ideal citizen is, and a lifestyle whichmakes deviant “kinds” of people who have to be “cured” througheducation. This paper will argue that SK and SE in education areways of organizing the behavior of people through stories of virtue.It will also argue that these stories shape and are shaped by theirintersection with the traveling and translation of ideas of progress.The paper will look into particular historical events to analyze whatcategories and notions of progress make SK and SE possible.