Resumen:

In Ecuador, the alternative concept of Buen Vivir as a worldview opposed to modern development has suffered a deep resignification during its integration into governance tools by the central government, realigning it with the modern development paradigm. At the same time, some municipalities in the Andes are working to put Sumak Kawsay into practice in many of its transformative dimensions: depatriarchalization, decolonization, redefinition of societal relations with Nature, deepening of democracy and self-reliance, relative decoupling of the world market and its macroeconomic imperatives. The recognition of certain indigenous practices and their expansion to urban and mestizo zones are at the base of these processes which are committed with the constitutional mandates of interculturality and plurinationality. This case study centers on the rural County of Nabón, especially on a process of transformation towards Buen Vivir which the County underwent since the mid-nineties until present times. It draws on the theoretical framework of multidimensional social transformation which has been agreed upon by the Global Working Group Beyond Development in 2017.