Aportes a la economía ecológica: una revisión de estudios latinoamericanos sobre subjetividades medioambientales

Abstract

Ecological economy proposes a new economic paradigm where environmental protection plays a central role and where the subjective dimension of the subject is key for understanding ecological economic behavior. In Latin America, environmental care constitutes a major challenge given the social problems affecting the region and the need to achieve greater economic development. Thus, the objective of this study is to conduct a theoretical review about qualitative research carried out in Latin America and the subjective knowledge about the environment which people living in this region have. Based on the thesis that the first step for developing ecological economic behavior is the construction of pro environmental subjective knowledge, it is necessary to describe the main results of these Latin American studies. This article describes the subjective meaning of environment, environmental consciousness raising, subjects' disposition towards environmental care, the impact of environmental education on subjectivity, and the qualitative perspectives used in these studies. The discussion analyzes these results and include suggestions that could orient psychosocial research on ecological economy.