Embedding Indigenous wisdom in constitutions

👉🏽 This story is developed as part of the Doughnut Economics for Policymakers guide.

Bhutan, Bolivia, China and Ecuador have all embedded Indigenous wisdom into their national constitutions to guide development. Implementation effectiveness varies, but collectively these efforts have shifted global narratives on economic development goals and inspired worldwide experimentation.

Overview

Many Indigenous cultures emphasise interconnections between people and nature, and the importance of thriving in balance. For example, Andean cultures embrace Buen Vivir / Sumak Kawsay — a worldview valuing fullness of life in community with others and nature; Buddhist philosophies emphasise living simply to respect all life forms and natural balance.

These traditions still influence worldviews and social norms in many countries. Governments can learn from and embed Indigenous wisdoms in their constitutions as guiding principles for their policies and actions.

Notable examples of governments embedding Indigenous wisdom in national constitutions include: 

• Bhutan (2008): Embedded Gross National Happiness (GNH) based on Buddhist philosophies 
• Bolivia and Ecuador (2009 and 2008): Embedded Buen Vivir / Sumak Kawsay
• China (2018): Embedded eco-civilisation based on Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist philosophies that emphasise interdependent and harmonious human-nature relation. 

Implementation 

Strong Indigenous movements or cultural influence underpin such adoption. Charismatic leaders and high-level government buy-in also seem to be key in driving constitutional change. 

Impacts

Results can vary according to how principles are interpreted and embedded in government operations. Bhutan uses GNH to assess policies and budgets, achieving increased happiness, improved living standards and health, and sustained high forest cover. China has reformed policies and governance systems while mobilising finance towards social and ecological goals; this has contributed to reforestation, improved social services and a reduction in poverty, air and water pollution, and carbon emissions. Bolivia and Ecuador have reduced poverty and inequality but still face challenges with ecological degradation.

Globally, these countries’ efforts to find a different development path rooted in their own cultural contexts have shifted narratives on what is possible. For example, Bolivia and Ecuador led a coalition of governments advocating for rights of nature and climate justice. Bhutan has advocated for incorporating happiness into international economic policies and actively shares its GNH practices, inspiring global experimentation. 

Challenges

• Creating space for learning:  These countries are charting new development paths through experimentation and learning. Any failures and imperfections in practice inevitably attract criticism and dismissal. 
• Contradictions between principles and practice: Pursuing endless GDP growth alongside Indigenous wisdom principles creates policy tensions and economic dependencies that contradict thriving in balance.
• Varied interpretation and implementation: Grand constitutional principles can be interpreted differently across government agencies and regions, leading to uneven progress and local discrepancies. 
• Local discontent from top-down enforcement: When principles are imposed from the top, local communities may feel marginalised or unfairly treated.
• External economic pressures : Globalised systems oriented toward endless growth create significant pressures: for example, global financial systems may penalise such countries by moving capital to those with fewer ecological and social constraints, as well as higher, faster returns.
• Blindspot for global impacts: Those constitutional principles focus efforts on domestic experimentation and may mask the wider ecological and social impacts of China’s green technology boom.

Reference and further reading

• Bhutan: Centre for Public Impact’s analysis of GNH. For a deeper dive: Kinzang Dorji, Bhutanese Ambassador to many Asian countries, gives his reflections on the challenges and future of GNH.
• Ecuador and Bolivia: Rapid Transition Alliance’s in-depth case study.   
• China : Green Economy Alliance’s analysis of Eco-civilisation; The British Academy’s analysis of Eco-civilisation drawing on practices in three urban areas. 

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