radical ecological democracy (presentation for icta/aub barcelona, may 2015)
TRANSCRIPT
Radical Ecological DemocracyLearnings from India Towards a Sustainable and Equitable World
Ashish Kothari
Kalpavriksh
India’s Impressive Growth• One of world’s biggest economies, rapid growth,
affluent middle class, 600 million mobile phones …
but…
Economic Globalisation
• Post-1991 global integration, privatisation, liberalisation … acceleration of impacts
Destruction of India’s environment
– >5.5 million ha. forest diverted in last 60 years– 70% waterbodies polluted or drained out– Some of the world’s most polluted cities and coasts– Nearly 10% wildlife threatened with extinction
– Dispossession of ecosystem-dependent communities
Self-devouring growth
World Bank (2013): Cost of environmental damage = 5.7%
points economic growth
(impacts taken into account) • urban & indoor air pollution• inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene• agricultural damage by soil salinity, water-logging and soil erosion • pasture degradation• deforestation
Continuing and new poverty & unemployment
• ‘Jobless growth’ in organised sector:– 26.7 million in 1991– 30 million in 2012
• % below poverty line: 38 to 70%
• World’s largest number of malnourished and undernourished women/children
• 60 million people displaced by ‘development’ projects
State vs. democracy
• Increasing attempt to silence civil society & peoples’ movements, e.g. Greenpeace India, INSAF, Sabrang
India the new Coloniser (joining China, Japan…)
Indian companies have taken up >500,000 ha. in Ethiopia & Tanzania for floriculture,
sugarcane, palm oil, etc
Gandhi:
‘if India is to take Britain’s path of ‘development’, it will strip the
world bare like locusts’
India: alternative initiatives for well-being
Water
CraftsShelter
Food
Energy
Governance
LivelihoodsConservation
Village revitalisation
Urban sustainability
Learning
Health
Producer companies
Recipe for transformational alternatives: Ingredient 1. A NEW POLITICS
Swaraj
“Our government in Mumbai and Delhi, we are the government in our village”
Towards tribal self-rule: Mendha-Lekha (Maharashtra)
Informed decisions through monitoring, and regular study circles (abhyas gat)
All decisions in gram sabha (village assembly); no activity even by government officials without sabha consent
Mendha-Lekha: economic revival based on reclaimed governance of 1800 ha forest
Vivek Gour-Broome
Earnings from sustainable NTFP use (over Rs. 10 million) … used for full employment, energy & water security, training as ‘barefoot’ engineers and researchers
2013: all agricultural land donated to village, collective ownership
Participatory urban governance
Participatory budgeting, Pune / Bangalore
Decentralised decision-making on civic facilities, Bhuj
Ingredient 1. A NEW POLITICS
Direct democracy: power emanating from grassroot rural and urban communities
Embedded democracy, ensuring accountability of representatives / delegates at larger levels through right to recall, citizens’ charters, public hearings, social audits, right to participation
Ecoregional decision-making … political boundaries aligned with ecological and cultural ones … demise of the nation-state?
Village reconstruction: outmigration is not inevitable
Ralegan Siddhi and Hivare Bazaar (Maharashtra), Kuthambakkam (TN)
Khamir/Kasab, Kachchh, India: secure livelihoods for
craftspersons through producer companies / cooperatives
Ingredient 2. A NEW ECONOMICS
Mindful of ecological / planetary limits
Localisation: self-sufficiency/sovereignty in basic needs
Community (not capitalist or state) control of production & consumption (prosumption)
Demonetisation: Relations of caring & sharing, local exchange systems/currencies, restructuring the market (haat)
Well-being indicators as alternatives to GDP: basic needs, happiness, social relations
Ingredient 3. A JUST SOCIETY
When people go hungry, it is not food but justice that is in
short supply
• Organic, biodiverse farming, community grain banks • Empowering women/dalit farmers, securing land rights• Creating consumer-producer links• Linking to Public Distribution System
Conservation, equity, & livelihoods Deccan Development Society
Towards equitable cities
Bhuj (Kachchh, west India):
• decentralised control by the poor: water, housing, sanitation • information-based empowerment for participation in city planning
(Hunnarshala, Sahjeevan, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, ACT, Setu)
Ingredient 3. A JUST SOCIETY
Towards equity amongst
classes
castes
women and men
ethnic groups
abled and ‘disabled’
city and village
humans and rest of nature
Learning & Education: away from mass production of clones, towards ecologically & culturally rooted experience
Mix of traditional and modern, oral and written, local and global, experiential and theoretical …
•Pachashala, Andhra Pradesh•Adharshila, Madhya Pradesh•Jeevanshala, Narmada•Adivasi Academy, Gujarat
•Beeja Vidyapeeth, Uttarakhand•Bhoomi College, Karnataka
Technological innovations: pro-poor, pro-environment, democratically controlled, knowledge-plurality
malkha cotton weaving, Andhra Pradesh (Dastkar Andhra)
affordable ecofriendly housing, Kachchh (Hunnarshala)
decentralised energy, Ladakh, Bihar (Greenpeace India)
Ingredient 4. WAYS OF KNOWING
Relinking with rest of nature
Diverse knowledge systems
Knowledge as the commons: no IPRs!
Democratising R&D and technological development
Opportunities for spiritual/ethical growth
Eco-swaraj: Radical ecological democracy (Radical = going to the roots, challenging the conventional)
• achieving human well-being, through: – empowering all citizens & communities to participate in
decision-making– ensuring socio-economic equity & justice – respecting the limits of the earth
Community (at various levels) as basic unit of organisation, not state or private corporation
The dish…
Hey, don’t forget the spices!
Values & principles….• Diversity and pluralism (of ideas, knowledge, ecologies,
economies, polities, cultures…)• Self-reliance for basics (swadeshi)• Cooperation, solidarity, the ‘commons’ • Rights with responsibilities • Dignity of labour & respect of subsistence • Qualitative pursuit of happiness• Equity & social justice • Simplicity, ‘enoughness’ (aparigraha)• Respect for all life forms
(add your own spices…)
Pathways….• Mass resistance • Stretching limits of system (the state responds!) • Empowering political carriers of new visions ….
movements, students, unions, etc• Citizens’ networking, joint actions, collective
visioning: Alternatives confluences (Vikalp Sangam)
Vikalp Sangams (Alternatives Confluences) Timbaktu, Andhra Pradesh, Oct 2014Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Feb 2015Ladakh, J&K, July 2015Wardha, Maharashtra, October 2015
Mutual learning with others ….• Latin American experiments: direct and delegated
democracy, worker-led production, community health, land re-
appropriation movements • Europe’s degrowth movement • Cuba’s urban agriculture, public R&D • Indigenous peoples’ territorial struggles and notions
of well-being (buen vivir, sumak kawsay, ubuntu …) • Many others….
An end to globalisation? No!
• Global flow of ideas, cultures, materials based on principles of Radical Ecological Democracy
NO IMPOSITION OF ONE MODEL ACROSS WORLD!
Issues for dialogue….
Would there be a state? What would be its form and role?
Would there be a private business sector? Profits?
What would be the nature of globalisation and global governance?
Who will catalyse the transformation: Civil society? Workers? Political parties?
• http://radicalecologicaldemocracy.wordpress.com
• www.alternativesindia.org
For more information….
Email: [email protected]