Economic Development in the Andes and the Need for a More Environmentally Sustainable Model: What Can History Teach Us?

Abstract

The mountainous region of the Andes is believed to be one of the oldest cultural areas of humankind. The Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire brought about a dramatic restructuring of the Andean economy, as the economic interests of the Spanish crown centered around the exploitation of mineral resources, especially precious metals, the labor force, and the production of agricultural goods to ship to Europe. Colonialism left a double legacy in the Andes that continues to have effects today: the order and bureaucratic structure of colonial power that excluded broad segments of the population and the integration of Latin America into the colonial system, and later the world market, as a supplier of raw materials. This article demonstrates that the model of natural resource exploitation, on which the economy, agriculture, and society rely, as managed through political distribution and allocation mechanisms, is not environmentally sustainable in the long run, though attempts at change bring significant challenges. We consider ways in which the Incans' earlier production and consumption patterns could contribute to greater sustainability and help mitigate global warming by reconciling locally anchored development and autochthonous natural and human resources with national and international requirements.