Ideas About Development in the History of Latin American Environmental Thought

Abstract

This document aims to indentify, the different ideas on the relationship between production and the environment throughout recent history in Latin America. Specifically, we pretend to elaborate how these ideas between production and the environment penetrated civil society and how their relationship was around the concept of development. The objective of this work is not to generate consensus on conversions and the main contributions to Latin American environmental thought. On the conrtary, our elaboration seeks to provide a general and personal vision, whose intention is to mark some critical axes that require further development of this thinking in our region. In relation to the general objective, it is verified that the historical memory of environmental ideas derived from two antagonistic currents. On one hand, a proposal associated with sustainable development expressed by international organizations where there is a reconciliation between development and the environment.  Conversely, a more identity idea is presented that points out the contradictions between the concept of development and environment and proposes the elaboration of alternative economic practices that face traditional hegemonic visions of sustainable development.