Abstract
The article presented below offers a legal anthropological perspective on the rights of nature within the framework of the new Latin American constitutionalism. To do so, it considers the inclusion of two indigenous cultural expressions (pachamama and sumak kawsay) in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution from two perspectives:1.The constitution-drafting process, particularly discussions surrounding the inclusion of the rights of nature through academic theories, popular demands, and the work of the Constituent Assembly members.2.The Constitution itself, in which nature is recognized as a subject of rights, and where the relationships between nature and culture embedded in the constitutional text are highlighted.Granting legal personhood to nature resulted from various popular movements as well as debates within the Constituent Assembly. Once incorporated into the Ecuadorian Constitution, the two aforementioned terms were modified to align with the constitutional text and its broader aspirations. The impact of this inclusion extends beyond geographical and disciplinary boundaries, even though the relationship between theory and practice reveals the need to overcome certain elements of a politico-legal framework that has persisted since colonization.