Nachhaltigkeit in Kolumbien: Indigene Experimente in Zeiten des Krieges

Abstract

Indigenous peoples of Colombia show an enormous capacity of sustaining themselves as distinct cultures. ‘Sustainability’ as a concept means, therefore, in the context of indigenous peoples – beyond the appropriate use of natural resources – the reproduction of institutions and personalities; in order to maintain and develop the specific lifestyle and livelihood according to own means and own criteria. This means, too, that some criteria are no longer exclusively linked with the past, but show a sophisticated process of gaining new areas of self-determination in the modern world. This does not happen automatically but has to be organized. It needs social activities in order to build the appropriate social, economical and political environment. Doing so, indigenous peoples and organizations have become a main subject in Colombia which sustains the democratization of the entire society and stress the idea to regain the field of politics for generating society.