Conclusions: Territories and development in Latin America

This chapter synthetises the conceptualisations and implementations of territorial development. The chapter highlights the limitations of traditional development approaches and the contradictory impacts of neoliberalism, prompting debates on alternative visions. Latin American scholars have introduced a decolonial approach, ‘territorial development’, emphasising local contexts, knowledge, and power dynamics. This approach advocates for bottom-up decision-making, empowering marginalised communities and fostering sustainable practices. The chapter reflects on the empirical case studies that illustrate these themes. For instance, the impact of financial capital on Argentine peasants, the influence of technoscience on Brazilian yerba mate cultivation, and the effects of top-down infrastructure projects in Argentina's Chaco region. These examples underscore the need for development models that respect local actors and traditional practices. The chapter also explores the role of domestic spaces, like the Maya solares in the Yucatán Peninsula, as sites of resistance and cultural preservation. It argues for alternative development models that integrate traditional knowledge and decolonial perspectives. In summary, this chapter synthetises the book's contribution, the importance of territories and decolonial, community-centred, and environmentally sustainable practices.