ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the social and environmental crisis brought about by the advance of capitalism in the development process. At issue here is the close relationship between, on the one hand, the persistence of social exclusion, poverty and social inequalities, and, on the other hand, climate change, biodiversity loss and soil, water and air pollution. While these problems have reached global proportions, countries and regions across the world confront a dilemma and conditions that to some extent are specific to the ecosystems of their territories, the characteristics of their economic and social structures, the associated institutional frameworks and the disparity in power relations both nationally and internationally. For this reason, the chapter focuses on the problem as it affects and relates to countries in the Andean highlands of South America and parts of the Amazonian basin, to be precise: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.
