La chakana como símbolo intercultural andino. Una visión desde el Sumak Kawsay

The book La chakana como símbolo intercultural andino: una visión desde el Sumak Kawsay constitutes a fundamental contribution to decolonial critical thought and to the revitalization of ancestral knowledge in the Ecuadorian and Latin American context. The authors are committed to a profound analysis that not only recognizes the symbolic richness of the chakana but also restores it as a living, active, and transformative matrix of thought. From the Laboratory of Ancestral Knowledge at the Universidad Católica de Cuenca (UCACUE), we acknowledge the relevance of this publication as a substantial contribution to the dialogue between ancestral wisdom and contemporary academic thought.

In a country that is constitutionally recognized as “intercultural and plurinational,” yet still bears the weight of colonial epistemic structures, works like this one are essential. It is not enough to merely mention ancestral knowledge: it is necessary to understand it within its internal logic, to dignify its complexity, to link it to contemporary challenges, and above all, to listen to its voices and its ways of naming the world.

This book does not adopt a merely descriptive approach, nor does it treat the chakana as a folkloric motif. On the contrary, it proposes a dense, critical, and rigorous reading, in which the Andean cross becomes a central axis articulating worldviews, ethical principles, socioeconomic relationships, territorial dimensions, and even epistemological proposals within the field of international relations. The chakana, as presented here, is much more than a symbol: it is a relational system for interpreting reality, a tool for rethinking communal life, and an ontological proposal that challenges the modern paradigm of fragmentation and domination.

The interdisciplinary approach of this work allows for the weaving together of oral and philosophical sources, community practices and constitutional frameworks, as well as the living voices of communities and contemporary academic debates. Its richness lies precisely in this articulation of knowledge from Andean philosophy, decolonial sociology, history, constitutional law, linguistics, cultural studies, solidarity economy, and international relations. This convergence allows us to understand the chakana not only as an ancestral symbol, but also as a contemporary tool for critical reflection and social transformation. This conjunction gives rise to a deeply respectful narrative rooted in the cultural heritage of Abya Yala, from Sumak Kawsay and Suma Qamaña, through analyses of interculturality, relationality, gender justice, biocentrism, and global south diplomacy. Thus, this work becomes a coherent and purposeful fabric of situated knowledge.

For our laboratory, whose goal is to promote the systematization and valorization of ancestral knowledge as an integral part of local, educational, and scientific development, this book represents a significant achievement. We are deeply pleased that its origin is linked to the academic and research work carried out at UCACUE, reinforcing our institutional commitment as a university that is rooted, plural, and in permanent dialogue with the communities that sustain and inspire it.

This text arrives at a historical moment in which the need for other ways of seeing and inhabiting the world becomes urgent. In the face of the ecological, epistemic, and social crises affecting the planet, the chakana is presented as a bridge: between times, between worlds, between ways of being, knowing, and living together. Through its pages, we are invited to imagine a life with different rhythms, different logics, different ethics—where respect for nature, community reciprocity, and the dignity of all beings are at the center.

We invite readers to approach this work not as one would enter a museum of the past, but as one who crosses a threshold into a fairer conversation between knowledge systems. From the Laboratory of Ancestral Knowledge, we reaffirm that the production of texts like this one is not an isolated gesture, but part of a broader struggle for epistemic sovereignty, for the revaluation of our roots, and for the right to build futures that do not resemble the colonial pasts that still dwell within us.