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In his reflections on decolonization and post-development, Gustavo Esteva forged a unique synthesis of critical theory and political economy. This book presents more than half a century of "reflection in action" in the form of essays, books, and interventions in national and international forums and newspaper articles—most published here for the very first time. It showcases Esteva’s evolving thought on economic theory, social change, revolutionary subjectivity, transition, development, the challenges of a new era and personal and communal autonomy, all associated with the challenges and advances in the construction of a new society. Through this translation, Esteva’s writings engage w...
The book is a collection of essays written by Gustavo Esteva over the last 20 years. In this book, Gustavo Esteva, renowned in Mexico as a philosopher on education and on developmentalism, collects four major areas of his writings: on learning, development, autonomy, and interculturality. A memorial to a great thinker, this book stimulates thoughts on developmentalism across the global south.
Gustavo Esteva is one of Latin America's best-known alternative thinkers about development. For this book, he teams up with Madhu Suri Prakash to offer a vibrant and provocative critique of the Western development paradigm.
With the publication of this remarkable book in 1998, Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash instigated a complete epistemological rupture. Grassroots Post-modernism attacks the three sacred cows of modernity: global thinking, the universality of human rights and the self-sufficient individual. Rejecting the constructs of development in all its forms, Esteva and Prakash argue that even alternative development prescriptions deprive the people of control over their own lives, shifting this control to bureaucrats, technocrats and educators. Rather than presuming that human progress fits a predetermined mould, leading towards an increasing homogenization of cultures and lifestyles, the authors argue for a ‘radical pluralism’ that honours and nurtures distinctive cultural variety and enables many paths to the realization of self-defined aspirations. This classic text is essential reading for those looking beyond neoliberalism, the global project and the individual self.
In his 1949 inaugural address, President Harry S. Truman heralded the era of international development, a "worldwide effort for the achievement of peace, plenty, and freedom" that would aim to "greatly increase the industrial activity in other nations and. . . . raise substantially their standards of living." At the time, more than half of the world's population lived in areas defined as underdeveloped; today, that figure surprisingly remains the same. Arguing that such persistent stagnation resulted partly from poor comprehension of the terms "developed" and "underdeveloped," this provocative book revises our understanding of these fraught concepts. Demystifying the statistics that international organizations use to measure development, the authors introduce the alternative concept of buen vivir a state of living well. They contend that everyone on the planet can achieve this state, but only if we all begin living as communities rather than individuals and nurture our respective commons. With their unique take on a famously difficult issue, they offer new hope for the future of development--and of humankind.
In this pioneering collection, some of the world's most eminent critics of development review the key concepts of the development discourse in the post-war era. Each essay examines one concept from a historical and anthropological point of view and highlights its particular bias. Exposing their historical obsolescence and intellectual sterility, the authors call for a bidding farewell to the whole Eurocentric development idea. This is urgently needed, they argue, in order to liberate people's minds - in both North and South - for bold responses to the environmental and ethical challenges now confronting humanity. These essays are an invitation to experts, grassroots movements and students of development to recognize the tainted glasses they put on whenever they participate in the development discourse.
"Escaping Education challenges the modern certainly that education is a universal good and a human right. It opens doors to alternative landscapes of learning and living that still flourish at the grassroots, within the cultures of the uneducated, the undereducated, and the illiterate who constitute the social majorities or the Two-Thirds World. It celebrates the richness of their traditions, their pluriverse or commons, common sense, and communal teaching, keeping at bay the modern reign of homo oeconomicus and homo educandus, Standing the all-too-familiar tale of education on its head, it joins the regeneration of soil cultures, resisting cultural meltdown in the global classroom."--BOOK JACKET.
"Absolutely what we need in these days of spreading gloom." —John Holloway, author of Crack Capitalism "A guide to a fulfilling militant life." —Michael Hardt, co-author of Assembly "Rigid radicalism" is the congealed and debilitating practices that suck life and inspiration from the fight for a better world. Joyful Militancy investigates how fear, self-righteousness, and moralism infiltrate and take root within liberation movements, what to do about them, and ultimately how tenderness and vulnerability can thrive alongside fierce militant commitment. Carla Bergman co-edited Stay Solid: A Radical Handbook For Youth. Nick Montgomery is an organizer and writer currently at Queen's University.
Escaping Education challenges the modern certainty that education is a universal good and a human right. It opens doors to alternative landscapes of learning and living that still flourish at the grassroots, within the cultures of the uneducated, the undereducated, and the illiterate who constitute the social majorities or the Two-Thirds World. It celebrates the richness of their traditions, their pluriverse of commons, common sense, and communal teaching, keeping at bay the modern reign of homo oeconomicus and homo educandus. Standing the all-too-familiar tale of education on its head, it joins the regeneration of soil cultures, resisting cultural meltdown in the global classroom.
We are poised between an old world that no longer works and a new one struggling to be born. Surrounded by centralized hierarchies on the one hand and predatory markets on the other, people around the world are searching for alternatives. The Wealth of the Commons explains how millions of commoners have organized to defend their forests and fisheries, reinvent local food systems, organize productive online communities, reclaim public spaces, improve environmental stewardship and re-imagine the very meaning of "progress" and governance. In short, how they've built their commons. In 73 timely essays by a remarkable international roster of activists, academics and project leaders, this book chr...