La tradizione giuridica contro-egemonica in Ecuador e Bolivia

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the constitutions of Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009) highlithing the legal meaning of Buen vivir, the native peoples’ cosmovision which permeates these texts. The Introduction provides an overview of the native cosmovision, which implies an armonic life of individuals, communities, and nature. Section II gives an explanation of the concept of subaltern cosmopolitan legality; in the counter-hegemonic globalization, the law is conceived in terms of revalutation of the chtonic tradition and of the extension of legal pluralism. In Section III, the meaning of traditions and the values of the counter-hegemonic legal tradition are illustrated. Section IV is devoted to the analysis of the positivization of the Andean cosmovision in the constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia. Section V illustrates the characteristics of the new Plurinational States. An analysis is carried out with regard to the explanation of the rights conferred to the Mother Earth in Section VI. The final Section is dedicated to the illustration of the results of the comparative analysis and to the potential diffusion of the counter-hegemonic legal tradition from Ecuador and Bolivia to other legal systems.