A fundamental challenge to the currently unsustainable and inequitable model of development can only be through a Radical Ecological Democracy that combines direct or participatory democracy, social justice, ecological sustainability, and economic democracy. The key pillars of such a future are presented in brief here.

1. Radical Ecological Democracy
Towards a Sustainable and
Equitable World

2. Triple crises….
Ecological unsustainability:
humanity consumes 1.5 what the
earth can sustain; climate crisis
already inevitable
Socio-economic inequities /
conflicts / deprivation: 10% rich own
53% India’s wealth; gross
unemployment
Alienation from rest of nature and
fellow humans

3. Something
fundamentally wrong
with development &
globalisation model
State-led & capitalistled growth ‘at all costs’
… violence against
nature and people!

4. Towards alternatives

5. Alternative initiatives for well-being
Energy
Food
Water
Shelter
Learning
Governance
Urban sustainability
Conservation Crafts
Livelihoods
Health
Village
revitalisation
Producer
companies

6. Similar movements in other
countries….
•Upsurge of people’s voices … demand to be
part of decision-making
•Rejection of nation-state & private corporation
… promotion of peoples’ collectives and
communities as third alternative
•Ecology, social equity, justice at core of many
movements

7. Radical ecological democracy
(Radical = going to the roots, challenging the
conventional)
• achieving human well-being, through
pathways that:
– empower all citizens to participate in decisionmaking
– ensure equitable distribution of wealth
– respect the limits of the earth and the rights of
nature

8. Radical Ecological Democracy:
Pillar 1. A NEW POLITICS
Direct democracy: power emanating from grassroot rural and
urban communities (Mendha-Lekha: “dilli-mumbai mein hamari sarkar,
hamaare gaon mein ham hi sarkar”)
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?

9. Radical Ecological Democracy:
Pillar 2. A NEW ECONOMICS
Mindful of ecological limits (freshwater, climate, biochemical
cycles) and need for humanity to downsize its impact
Localisation: self-sufficiency/sovereignty in basic needs
Production & consumption locally controlled, linked into wider
landscape relations
Facilitation of local currencies and non-monetised exchanges
Well-being indicators as alternatives to GDP: basic needs,
happiness, social relations (buen vivir ‘good living’)

10. Radical Ecological Democracy:
Pillar 3. A JUST SOCIETY
Towards equity amongst
classes
castes
women and men
ethnic groups
abled and ‘disabled’
Towards rights-based approaches, with responsibilities

11. Radical Ecological Democracy:
Pillar 4. A NEW CULTURE OF KNOWLEDGE, AND
KNOWLEDGE OF CULTURE
Relinking with rest of nature: humans as part of nature, inherent rights
of nature
Mix of tradition and modernity … both critically examined
Learning through doing and experience, not only textbooks … and from
‘barefoot’ teachers as much as from PhDs!
Democratising R&D and technological development
Opportunities for spiritual/ethical growth (not=religious fundamentalism)

12. Values & principles….
• Diversity and pluralism (of ideas, knowledge, ecologies,
economies, polities, cultures…)
• Self-reliance for basics
• Cooperation, collectivities, and ‘commons’
• Rights with responsibilities/duties
• Dignity of labour
• Respect to subsistence
• Qualitative pursuit of happiness
• Equity & social justice
• Simplicity
• Decision-making access to all
• Respect for all life forms
• Ecological sustainability

13. Issues for dialogue….
Will big industry be needed? Under whose control? Will private sector
have a role?
Are market solutions and technofixes part of the solution, or dangerous
diversions?
Will the state wither away? Or does its role as welfare agent &
guarantor of rights continue?
What is the role of the ‘middle classes’?
What political forces can lead the way to radical ecological democracy?

14. Issues for dialogue….
Nature of globalisation and global governance?
Free exchange of cultures, ideas, knowledge, materials, and
people…. Not of predatory finance and homogenous models!
Regional and global peoples’ assemblies, reducing/balancing role
of nation-state

15. For more information….
• www.kalpavriksh.org
• http://radicalecologicaldemocracy.wordpress.com
Email: chikikothari@gmail.com