Eco-swaraj: Radical Ecological Democracy Alternatives to Unsustainability & Inequity Ashish Kothari Kalpavriksh
Today’s menu … • Unappetiser: violence of development / growth • Appetiser: alternatives at the grassroots • Main dish: frameworks of transformation • Coffee: some key questions to ponder over • Dessert: confluences
India ... • Human settlement 70,000 years old • Urban ‘ civilisations ’ 5000 years old • Population: 1.2 billion people • Livelihoods: 65-70% agriculture dependent • Culture: 800 living languages • Complex social dynamics: caste, religion, ethnicities • Biodiversity: 7-8% of world biodiversity on 2% of its landmass • 150+ years of colonisation by Britain; independence 1947
Economic globalisation • 1947-1991: Socialist economy • 1991-onwards: Integration into global economy: – Privatisation / foreign investments – Liberalisation – Export-import priority – Consumption boom
India’s Impressive Growth • World’s 2nd highest growth rate; 7 th largest economy • 800 million mobile phones • Indian corporations now multinational • Better services/opportunities for middle class
Dominant vision of ‘development’ Violence against nature, communities, and cultures … growth as cancer
Self-devouring growth World Bank (2013): Costs of environmental damage = 5.7% points econ. 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
Jobless growth; continuing and new poverty • Myth of growing employment: ‘jobless growth’ in organised sector: – 26.7 million in 1991 – 30 million in 2012 • 20% unemployment among youth • % below poverty line: 38 to 70% • World’s largest number of malnourished and undernourished women/children • 60 million people displaced by ‘development’ projects
Destruction of India’s agriculture ‘Green revolution’ model • High cost of inputs, low purchase prices = farmer indebtness • Destruction of soil productivity, dependence on market & govt >300,000 suicides ( many in heartland of green revolution!)
Clash of civilisations … From livelihoods as ways of life …
… to livelihoods as jobs, divorced from rest of life: Violence against each of us: our identity, our health, our well-being! Livelihoods to Deadlihoods Illustrator unknown
Growing inequities, deprivation 1% richest own 50% wealth!!!!
Are there alternatives?
Alternatives to what? Structural roots of unsustainability & inequity Concentration of power Capitalism State-dominated regimes Patriarchy Caste / race / ethnicity ….
Resistance … satyagraha … is part of the alternative “Civil society responsible for 2- 3% GDP loss” Ministry of Home Affairs
Assertion of self- determination & ancient ways of life, recognition of the unrecognised Dongria Kondh indigenous people vs. Vedanta corporation & Indian state
India: alternative initiatives for well-being Energy Gende Food r Learning Water Governance Urban sustainability Inclusion Shelter Conservation Crafts Health Livelihoods Sexuality Village Producer revitalisation companies
Alternatives across the world Country Agroecology / permaculture Biocivilisation Ubuntu / ukama / unhu Buen vivir / sumaq kawsay Commons Zapatista Kurdish Rojava Kyosei Ecosocialism Ecofeminism Solidarity economy Degrowth
Food sovereignty: sustainable agriculture
Deccan Development Society (Andhra Pradesh) • Reviving traditional agr diversity, community grain banks • Empowering women/dalit farmers, securing land rights • Creating consumer-producer links (Zaheerabad org. food restaurant) • Linking to Public Distribution System • Community media (films, radio)
Water security: do we need big dams and canals?
Arvari Sansad (Parliament), Rajasthan: water and food sovereignty through ecoregional governance
Natural resources: conservation & livelihoods
Self-rule & decentralised governance: Mendha-Lekha (Maharashtra) All decisions by consensus in gram Informed decisions through monitoring, and sabha (village regular study circles assembly) ( abhyas gat )
Conservation of 1800 ha forests, now with full rights under Forest Rights Act Earnings from sustainable forest use (over Rs. 20 million in last few years), and use of govt schemes towards: • Full employment, energy security, new livelihoods (barefoot engineers, GIS mapping) “Our government in Mumbai and Delhi, we are the government in our village” 2013: all agricultural land donated to village, collective ownership Vivek Gour-Broome
Elsewhere in the world …. • Indigenous peoples’ assemblies • Zapatista self-governed region: people’s assemblies, oversight councils, rotating ‘leadership’ • Kurdish Rojava autonomous region • Latin American experiments: direct and delegated democracy (e.g. Venezuela’s consejos comunales, neighbourhood assemblies “we don’t want to be government, we want to govern”) • Australia east coast corridor, landscape-level governance • and many more …
Indigenous peoples’ and community conserved areas (ICCAs)
Livelihood security
Jharcraft Employment for >3 lakh families… (Jharkhand) reviving crafts, reducing outmigration
Dharani farmer producer company, Andhra Pradesh (facilitated by Timbaktu Collective)
Rural revitalisation: outmigration is not inevitable Ralegan Siddhi & Hivare Bazaar (Maharashtra), Kuthambakkam (TN) Kudumbashree (Kerala)
Right to a Sustainable City ‘ ’Homes in the City’, Bhuj (Kachchh, Gujarat) • self- reliance in water (India’s lowest rainfall) • solid waste management and sanitation • re-commoning of spaces • livelihoods for the poor • self-built, dignified housing for poor (Hunnarshala, Sahjeevan, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, ACT, Setu)
Middle class actions … Lake revival / conservation, water harvesting, garbage management (Bengaluru, Salem) Participatory budgeting (Bengaluru/Pune) ‘Maptivism’ by Transparent Chennai reStore (non-profit store), Chennai
Elsewhere in the world ... • Factory take-over and democratic running by workers, Argentina, Greece … • Land re-appropriation movement (MST), Brazil • Commons / solidarity initiatives, cooperatives (e.g. Barcelona’s Cooperativa Integral) • Local /social currencies (Helsinki, Bristol, Barcelona?) • Cuba’s urban agriculture • Transition Towns, Europe • a nd many more…
Knowledge, consciousness, attitudes, worldviews …
Learning / education: re-locating it in community, ecological roots, creativity, inquisitiveness … • Adharshila, MP • Jeevanshala, Narmada • SECMOL, Ladakh • Imli-Mahua, Chhattisgarh • Marudam, Tamil Nadu • Adivasi Academy, Guj • Swaraj University, Rajasthan • Beeja Vidyapeeth, Uttarakhand • Bhoomi College, Karnataka Skhole = leisure!
Intergenerational transmission of knowledge • Surshala (music) • Karigarshala (construction) • Sagarshala (coastal communities) • Kala Vidyapeeth (crafts) • Parageohydrologists Traditional & new skills for livelihoods
Technology by/for/with/of people Technological innovations to reduce ecological impact, reach & be governed by the marginalised ( malkha cotton weaving, AP; Hunnarshala housing, Kachchh; Solar passive architecture, Ladakh)
Alternative Media, Communications, Arts Freedom from govt & corporate control: • Community radio (>150); FM? • Mobile-based ( CGNetSwara, Chhattisgarh ) • Movement newsletters, folk theatre • Film/video ( Video Volunteers ) • Internet ( Scroll, Wire, Infochange, India Together … ) Pic: Puroshottam Thakur •‘Social’ networks … virtual communities
The government responds… • New laws: – Right to Information Act – National Employment Guarantee Act – Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 • New programmes: – Organic farming policies / programmes in 16 states: Sikkim 100% by 2015, Kerala by 2020? – Activity-based learning, Tamil Nadu
Can we discern elements of a holistic framework from these initiatives?
Towards a sustainable and equitable society 5 interconnected, integrated circles Radical democracy Ecological resilience & wisdom Economic democracy Culture & knowledge diversity Social justice & wellbeing
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
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