Sirio López Velasco, Uruguayan-Brazilian-Spanish, was born in Uruguay in 1951. In 1985, while living as a political exile in Belgium, he obtained his doctorate in Philosophy at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), where he also received a “Licensed” diploma in Linguistics and was co-founder and coordinator (1983-1985) of the Latin American Philosophy Seminar (the first PhD seminar created by students at that University founded in 1425). In 2002 and 2009, he conducted postdoctoral research in Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC, Madrid, Spain). In 1988, he was elected Vice-President of the International Association of Young Philosophers (IAYP) at the XVIII World Congress of Philosophy (Brighton, England); he held that post until the next World Congress (1993). From 1989 to 1992, he was retained by the University of Mainz (Germany) as a researcher for development of the Diatopic and Diastratic Linguistic Atlas of Uruguay (coordinated by Harald Thun and Adolfo Elizaincín). López Velasco was a professor at the PUCRS and UNISINOS Universities (in Porto Alegre, Brazil). From 1989 until his retirement in 2019, he was Professor of Philosophy at the Federal University of Río Grande (FURG, in Rio Grande, Brazil); where from 1994 to 2016 he helped develop first the Master, then the Doctoral Degree programs in Environmental Education (the first and only program to date recognized by Brazil’s Ministry of Education). He was a member of the International Scientific Committee for the 1st and 3rd World Congress on Environmental Education (held, respectively, in Portugal in 2002, and in Italy in 2005). He was also a member of the official Brazilian delegation in education to the “Rio+20” (UN Conference on Sustainable Development), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. He is a member of two Working Groups of the Associação Nacional de Pesquisa e Post-Graduação em Filosofia (ANPOF) | National Association of Research and Graduate Studies in Philosophy, Brazil. He was Secretary in Rio Grande of the Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (SBPC) | Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science. He directed several postgraduate theses, in Philosophy and Environmental Education, and gave lectures at international conferences held in Latin America and Europe.
Coronavirus, Capitalism and Eco-communitarianism
By Sirio López Velasco, Resilience.org
In this article, the author takes stock of the capitalist response during the pandemic to the educational and health challenge in contrast to the eco-communitarian response.
Bolivia | Reflections on the Inaugural Addresses of President Luis Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca
By Sirio López Velasco, Resilience.org
In these notes, we outline some very brief reflections based on the inaugural speeches that Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca delivered on November 8, 2020, when they assumed, respectively, the offices of President and Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
Why Do We Struggle? For the Shared Enjoyment of Life and Caring For the Rest of Nature
By Sirio López Velasco, Resilience.org
In 2020 I have frequently found that those who campaign to overcome capitalism from a socialist perspective (in my case, with an ecommunitarian vision) are so pressured by the urgencies of daily action that they lose sight of the final goal of the struggle.
Uruguay | Ecommunitarianism, Inequality and Individual Differences
By Sirio López Velasco, Resilience.org
We defend a principle of unequal distribution that gives more to those who need the most (within the limits of respect for ecological balance and interculturality).
For an e-communitarian union of experiences in Abya Yala
By Sirio López Velasco, Aporrea.org
The Plurinational State, which prior to the coup in Bolivia had begun to be erected (with the defects inevitable in any pioneering trial), is a mirror in which our countries must look at themselves... The Abya Yala [the Americas] is then to be lived as a Great Homeland, open to supportive and ecological cooperation with all the peoples of the world.
E-communitarian Democracy: What is it? Part 2
By Sirio López Velasco, Resilience.org
E-communitarian democracy (based fundamentally on direct democracy, but incorporating participatory and representative forms as well) both needs and will constantly build a rich network of provisional or long-lasting social organizations.
E-communitarian Democracy: What is it?
By Sirio López Velasco, Rebelion.org
We consider democracy especially in its direct, participatory and/or representative forms, and for the satisfaction of individual needs (within the ecological frugality prescribed by the third fundamental norm of ethics, and respect for interculturality).
What would Che Guevara Say to Covid-19?
By Sirio López Velasco, Resilience.org
Under capitalism the wealth, goods and services of a country are very unevenly distributed. Capitalists, banks and multinationals hold the lion’s share, while the vast majority of salaried, unemployed and marginalized people (including indigenous and black communities in Latin America) are left with the crumbs.