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The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research pp 355–374Cite as

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Rethinking Creativity from the “South”: Alternative Horizons Toward Strengthening Community-Based Well-Being

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture ((PASCC))

Abstract

In this chapter, we will discuss the notion of competing sociocultural paradigms, including the ones that bring together perspectives of the South, and their impact on interpreting the concept of creativity. We explore different notions of creativity within the context of our experiences and knowledge of realities of diverse rural communities in Colombia as they have been struggling with a dominant model of development based on the extraction of natural resources. We show how these communities resist and try to make possible the creation of new imaginings of well-being and development. Our discussion is guided by the following two questions: (1) In what sociocultural paradigm and epistemic framework (way of knowing) should we ground our view of the purpose of creative actions? (2) What other possibilities are available beyond the legacy of a colonialist modernity to consider what counts as valid knowledge about creativity? In our conclusions, based on an ongoing educational project developed in different Colombian rural contexts, we outline the necessity of considering cross-cultural dialogue about conceptions and practices of creativity as ways of creating imaginaries of well-being and development anchored into rural communities’ own expectations toward equity, justice, reciprocity, and complementarity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Perfil municipal de Piedras. Bogotá: DANE, Boletín Censo General de 2005. Available in: http://www.dane.gov.co/files/censo2005/PERFIL_PDF_CG2005/73547T7T000.PDF

  2. 2.

    Our translation from the original in Spanish; cited by Laura Quintana in “La desolación de La tierra y la sombra”, Palabras al Margen, Bogotá, 14 agosto 2015, p. 1. Available in: http://palabrasalmargen.com/index.php/articulos/nacional/item/la-desolacion-de-la-tierra-y-la-sombra

  3. 3.

    VI Festival del Agua en defensa del territorio, San Carlos – Antioquia. Kavilando.org. October 31, 2014. Available in: http://www.kavilando.org/index.php/2013-10-13-19-52-10/formacion-popular/3091-el-sexto-festival-del-agua-en-defensa-del-territorio-san-carlos-antioquia. VI Marcha Carnaval en defensa de la Vida, el Agua y el Territorio, Tolima, Tejido de Comunicación ACIN. 9 de junio de 2014. Available in: http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/?Las-comunidades-del-Tolima

  4. 4.

    See the names of participant organizations and institutions in the acknowledgments at the end.

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Acknowledgments

Both authors are founder members of the Research Group in Educación y Diversidad Internacional (EDI), a collaborative effort from different latitudes based at the Universidad de Antioquia. This chapter is a result of the authors’ dialogue during the design and implementation of the project “Diálogo universidades – comunidades hacia el fortalecimiento de capacidades de liderazgo y creatividad hacia la sostenibilidad en contextos rurales diversos de Colombia” (2013–2016), supported by Banco Universitario de Programas y Proyectos de Extensión–BUPPE, Universidad de Antioquia. Also, the success of this project results from an active and ongoing engagement of the following individuals and institutions: Francisco Asprilla and Nemecio Palacios, Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Asociación Campesina Integral del Atrato (COCOMACIA); Manuel Moya, pueblo Embera, Chocó; Rodolfo Sierra, Liliana Aristizábal and Consuelo Montoya, Corporación de Estudios Educativos, Investigativos y Ambientales (CEAM); Hernán Porras, Gobernación de Antioquia y CEAM; Carmen Candelo Reina and Renata Moreno, WWF Colombia; Sixta Tulia Palacios, OXFAM – Colombia; Gerald Fallon, U of British Columbia, Canada; Vlad Glăveanu, Aalborg U, Denmark; Luanda Sito, U Federal de Campinas, Brasil; Hader Calderón, Luz Elena Velázquez, and Manuela Penagos, Universidad de Antioquia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Antioquia, A.A. 1226, Medellín, Colombia

    Zayda Sierra

  2. Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus, V6T 1Z2, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Gerald Fallon

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  1. Zayda Sierra
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  2. Gerald Fallon
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Correspondence to Zayda Sierra .

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  1. Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Vlad Petre Glăveanu

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Sierra, Z., Fallon, G. (2016). Rethinking Creativity from the “South”: Alternative Horizons Toward Strengthening Community-Based Well-Being. In: Glăveanu, V. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46344-9_17

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