UF Center for Latin American Studies
September 26, 2017
Dear friends,
During the 2017-18 academic year, the UF Center for Latin American Studies will host an array of activities exploring radically different pathways toward human-environment well-being. In synch with LASA’s 2018 theme Latin American Studies in a Globalized World, we will consider Latin American ideas and initiatives in the context of global south-south conversations and south-north learning and power relations.
Stay up-to-date with activities by joining the LATAM-Pathways listserv. If you are not on the listserv and wish to be included, send a request to Ivette Hernandez (ihernandez@latam.ufl.edu).
The Center for Latin American Studies’ 67th Annual Conference, Buen Vivir and other Postdevelopment Pathways, will take place April 8-10, 2018, in Gainesville, Florida.
Contributors include Ecuadorian ecological economist Alberto Acosta; Colombian anthropologist Arturo Escobar; Charles Bassey, Central Bank of Nigeria; Indian environmentalist Ashish Kothari; Argentine co-founder of Alternautas, Adrien Beling; and UF alumna Geographer Diane Rocheleau. Conference participants will consider a range of pathways that are not driven by desire for economic growth and modern/western lifestyles but instead prioritize ecological sustainability, together with equitable abundance of health, harmony, pleasure, meaning, and community.
Students, staff, faculty, and others are invited to join in the process of imagining, designing and hosting the conference. Enthusiasts should contact Susan Paulson (spaulson@latam.ufl.edu).
Want to share ideas? Propose and/or participate in a meeting of our group Learning with Buen Vivir and other Post Development Pathways. Over the past year, our gatherings have included a wide variety of presentations, conversations, conviviality, kayaking, and a summer solstice celebration. If you would like to facilitate or suggest a gathering, contact Susan Paulson (spaulson@latam.ufl.edu).
Ecological economist Alberto Acosta is one of the world’s leading theorists and most widely read authors on Buen Vivir. Recent books include Salidas del laberinto capitalista: Decrecimiento y postextractivismo (2017), with Ulrich Brand, El Buen Vivir: Sumak Kawsay, una oportunidad para imaginar otro mundo (2013), and Desarrollo, postcrecimiento y Buen Vivir: Debates e interrogantes (2014). Acosta served as President of the assembly charged with drawing up Ecuador’s new constitution that guarantees the Rights of Nature (2007-2008), was Ecuador’s Minister for energy and mining (2007), and candidate for president (2013). He worked as professor and researcher at FLACSO-Ecuador, and was actively involved in the Yasuní initiative to leave the oil in the soil. Learn more!
This course will count toward TCD Social Science requirement.
The 3-credit course “De la gran teoría del desarrollo al post-desarrollo. Una lectura crítica.” (LAS 6938) is scheduled for Spring 2018, Thursday mornings 9:30-12:30. Social and natural sciences join in this exploration of paths toward equitable and sustainable futures that are evolving in Latin America. Flexible use of English, Spanish and Portuguese will allow students to foreground their language of preference in reading and writing assignments and class discussions. Good understanding of Spanish is required of all participants. To get your name on the list for enrollment in this course, email a request to Wanda Carter (wcarter@latam.ufl.edu).
Join and “like” the Other Pathways Facebook group to continue conversations and connections. Contributions including sharing links or materials, or introducing topics of interest, are welcome any day of the week! https://www.facebook.com/otherworldsandpostdevelopmentpathways/
