| A nongovernmental organization (NGO)
dedicated to spreading Andean perspectives on peasant
agriculture and culture through writing and teaching,
PRATEC seeks to participate in the collective, direct
action efforts of Andean peasants to counter socially
and ecologically destructive effects of industrial
development and governmental agrarian reforms. Through
the de-professionalization of knowledge, the adoption
of a non-dualistic worldview that is non-anthropocentric,
and the practice of “ritual agriculture,”
PRATEC seeks to support the resurgence of native
peasant approaches to agri/culture, which it sees
as radically opposed to Western industrial capitalism.
The Andean peasant practice of ritual agriculture
embraces kinship oriented visions of the land and
encourages empathetic actions that illustrate respect
for all living entities of the biosphere. Agricultural
activities are accompanied by ritual actions, utterances,
and offerings that express both a deep respect for
Pachamama (Mother Earth), and communitarian
aspects that characterize the worldview of the Andean
people. |
| Indigenous Tradition |
| Peruvian Andes |
| 1987–Present |
| After founding PRATEC in 1987, Grimaldo Rengifo
was joined by two other native Andean peasants,
Eduardo Grillo and Julio Valladolid, in seeking
an alternative to modern Western approaches to development
and agriculture in the Peruvian Andes. Giving up
their respective professions in the field of development,
these three men turned to the traditions and agricultural
practices of rural, native, peasants who have been
organizing themselves locally and reappropriating
land through direct action campaigns since the 1950s.
Seeing potential in the traditional combination
of culture and agriculture that characterized the
peasant movement, the members of PRATEC dedicated
themselves to spreading this approach, which they
contrast to industrial capitalism, modern Western
approaches to development, and the professionalization
of knowledge. In 1990, they began teaching a course
on Andean culture and agriculture for native peasants
involved in rural development. Soon after, they
adopted a more spiritual approach by deferring to
the wisdom of the wakas (deities), consulting
a maestro (shaman), and performing various
rituals as part of the group’s decision-making
process. |
| None Listed |
| None Listed |
| None Listed |
| Julio Valladolid and Frederique Apffel-Marglin,
“Andean Cosmovision and the Nurturing of Biodiversity”
in Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing
of Cosmology and Community, ed. John Grim (Cambridge,
Mass.: Center for the Study of World Religions;
Harvard University Press, 2001) 639–70. |
| Frederique Apffel-Marglin, The Spirit of Regeneration:
Andean Culture Confronting Western Notions of Development
(London: Zed Books, 1998). |
PRATEC
Calle Martín Pérez 866
Magdalena. Lima 11, Perú.
Ph/Fx: 054.1.2612825
Email: pratec@ddm.com.pe |
