Human dignity in tension: A decolonial reading from buen vivir in Caquetá

Abstract

Human dignity, despite being established as the foundation of fundamental rights and a principle of universal scope, reveals significant fissures between its abstract formulation and its concrete modes of understanding and enactment across diverse realities, particularly in the Latin American context. This article examines, from a decolonial perspective, this contested notion by placing it in dialogue with expressions of buen vivir observed in the department of Caquetá, where alternative processes of meaning-making emerge, rooted in specific historical and cultural trajectories. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach that enables a critical interrogation of the hegemonic frameworks that have universalized the concept, while simultaneously illuminating local discourses and practices that challenge conventional development paradigms. In this vein, it explores the genealogy of human dignity within Western philosophy to uncover its intrinsic contradictions, contrasting it with interpretations developed in Latin America and critiques advanced by decolonial thought. This analytical juxtaposition demonstrates that dignity is far from constituting a homogeneous global category; rather, it operates as a dynamic construct, continuously reconfigured through collective struggles, everyday practices, and diverse worldviews. Thus, dignity emerges as a relational, ethical, and historical process, inseparable from its connections to territory, the natural environment, and plurality, opening pathways to reimagine it beyond rigid universal frameworks and as an ever-evolving construct grounded in local contexts.