1. Ecoswaraj - Radical Ecological Democracy
Pluriversal Pathways out of Global Crises
Ashish Kothari
Kalpavriksh / Vikalp Sangam / Global Tapestry of Alternatives

2. Multiple global
crises
• Ecological: biodiversity, climate, pollution
• Socio-economic: inequality, deprivation
• Political: conflicts, authoritarianism
• Cultural: colonisation & homogenisation
• Personal: depression, meaninglessness, alienation
Anon

3. ‘Development’: the religion of economic growth
Violence against nature, communities, cultures, & individuals
… from livelihoods to deadlihoods

4. Growth-based ‘development’ is inherently
unsustainable
• Several planetary boundaries
already crossed
• We are already at 1.5XEarth
• Runaway climate change is at
our doorstep
Rockstrom et al 2009

5. Richest 20% = 83% of income
Richest 8 billionnaires = 50% of world population
Shamefully unequal world

6. Shrinking
democracy
Right-wing govts, corporate
impunity
Attack on civil/political dissentors:
‘anti-development’, ‘anti-national’,
‘terrorist’
Killing of environment/human
rights defenders: > 4 a week!
(Global Witness)

7. ‘Solutions’ that sustain profit-making and domination:
Technofixes, market mechanisms, green growth,
geoengineering, net-zero … ‘sustainable development’
Example:
electric cars: are they sustainable?

8. Are there alternative ways to meet
human needs & aspirations?
Below the Volcano, by Ashish Kothari

9. Systemic alternatives include
resistance …
(to capitalism, state domination, patriarchy,
casteism, racism, ableism, human-centredness)
… other ways of being, knowing, doing,
dreaming

10. Satyagraha:
Civil disobedience against injustice,
across world

11. Commons
Solidarity
economy
Degrowth
Buen vivir / sumaq kawsay
/ kametsu asaike
Ubuntu / ukama /
unhu
Ecofeminism
Agroecology /
permaculture
Biocivilisation
Ecosocialism
Zapatista
Kurdish Rojava
Kyosei
Country
Transition
Nayakrishi
Agaciro
GNH Agdal
Swaraj
ICCAs
Food / energy
sovereignty
Worker-owned
production
Climate justice
Constructive alternatives across the world

12. •Empowering dalit women farmers: collectives, land rights
•Reviving traditional agricultural diversity / practices (millets)
•Community grain banks
•Community media: radio station, film-making …
Deccan Development Society, India:
conservation, equity, food sovereignty, livelihood security

13. •5 Quechua indigenous communities governing Andean landscape
•Conserving/using >1300 varieties of potato (in centre of origin)
•Asserting self-determination & direct democracy with gender justice
Parque de la Papa, Peru: biocultural landscape
conservation, food sovereignty, livelihood security

14. Sapara self-determination,
Ecuadorian Amazon
Asserting the dream/spirit world,
fighting oil, exploring economic
alternatives, reviving language,
helping outsiders heal

15. Territories of Life (ICCAs): respecting nature,
securing livelihoods, democratic governance
www.iccaconsortium.org

16. Maha Gram Sabha,
Gadchiroli (Maharashtra, India)
• Federation of 90 villages
• Stop mining!
• Aims: sustainable livelihoods,
forest rights & conservation,
self-governance built on
traditions of decision-making,
women’s empowerment,
cultural identity

17. The Zapatista revolution: governance
without a state
Principles
• Lead by obeying
• Propose, don’t impose
• Represent, don’t replace
• Resist power
• Convince, don’t defeat
• Everything for everyone,
nothing for ourselves
• Construct, don’t destroy

18. Kurdistan: radical democracy based on
women’s and ecological liberation
• Autonomy, ecofeminist principles (‘jineoloji’)
in midst of war
Images: courtesy Kurdish Women’s Movement

19. Solidarity / commons economy, alternative currencies,
open software / knowledge commons
Viome - worker-run
factory, Thessoliniki
Time-banking at neighbourhood
school, Athens, Greece
Beki local currency, Biekerech,
Luxembourg
gASTEWERKe commune, Germany

20. ‘’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, dignified housing for the poor
(Hunnarshala, Sahjeevan, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, ACT, Setu)
Right to a Sustainable City

21. Christiania
(Copenhagen),
‘anarchic’ self-
governance,
commons, coops --
over 40 years
Towards sustainable, equitable urban spaces
• Transition towns – re-commoning, climate resilience
(Europe)
• Neighbourhood assemblies (Brazil, Scotland)
• Urban cooperatives, food sovereignty (S. Africa)
• Shared living / communes / ecovillages (Europe)

22. Learning / education: rooted in cultures &
ecologies, decolonising, encouraging creativity,
combining head-heart-hand-feet-soul …
•Adharshila, Jeevanshala, SECMOL, Marudam, Bhoomi, KFI schools,
Beeja Vidyapeeth (India)
•Multiversities / pluriversities / ecoversities (several countries)
•Zapatista autonomous schools (Mexico)
•Forest schools / kindergartens (Czech Republic, Germany)
and many more …
Skhole = leisure!

23. COVID-time
resilience -
community
mobilization and
collective rights:
100 examples

24. What frameworks of transformation
emerge from grounded alternatives?
‘Double rainbow’ by Ashish Kothari

25. Ecological resilience
& wisdom
(rights of nature, conservation)
Radical democracy
(direct citizens’ power, accountable
representative institutions, ecoregional
governance, borderless world)
Economic democracy
(producer sovereignty, localised self-reliance,
caring/sharing, commons)
Social justice &
wellbeing
(justice, equity of genders, ethnicities, castes,
‘ability’ …)
Culture & knowledge
diversity
(new learning, knowledge commons,
celebrating creativity, cultural co-existence,
spiritual deepening)
Flower of transformation:
5 spheres of systemic alternatives
VALUES

26. Sphere 1: POLITICS FOR ALL
Direct democracy (local to national/regional): decentralized,
nested decision-making, referendums …
Delegated/representative democracy, with mechanisms of
accountability (right to recall, public audit, reporting back…)
Global governance (beyond United Nations): Confederation
of Peoples’ Assemblies / ‘World Democratic Confederalism’*
* Abdullah Ocalan

27. Sphere 2: ECONOMICS AS IF LIFE MATTERED
Open localisation: self-sufficiency/sovereignty in basic needs
Production, consumption in hands of producers / consumers
(prosumers)
Re-integrating work & leisure: livelihoods
Re-commoning private & state property
Demonetisation & decentralisation of currencies: Relations of
caring/sharing, local exchange systems, restructuring the market
Beyond GDP: Meaningful indicators of well-being

28. Sphere 3:
Towards social justice and equality
• Struggles for human rights
• Equality of genders and sexualities
• Castelessness
• Anti-racism
• Rights of ‘disabled’

29. Sphere 4:
CULTURE and KNOWLEDGE DIVERSITY & COMMONS
• Respecting all religions and faiths
• Promoting all languages
• Respecting knowledge diversity, sharing it
freely as commons
• Public control over technology and media
• De-colonising culture and knowledge

30. Sphere 5:
RADICAL ECOLOGY
Unknown artist
Re-integrating ourselves within nature,
respecting its integrity ….
recognizing the commonality of spirit

31. Many
governments and
courts are
recognizing rights
of rivers,
mountains,
animals … and of
Mother Earth
RIGHTS OF NATURE, LIKE HUMAN RIGHTS … and beyond
Poorva Goel

32. Re-imagining governance of
South Asia, respecting
natural-cultural flows
beyond boundaries?
Putting the 5 spheres
together:
Bioregionalism as an
intersectional
approach …

33. Ecological resilience &
wisdom
(rights of nature, conservation)
Radical democracy
(direct citizens’ power, accountable
representative institutions,
borderless world)
Economic democracy
(producer sovereignty, localised
self-reliance, caring/sharing,
commons)
Social justice & wellbeing
(justice, equity of genders, ethnicities,
castes …)
Culture & knowledge
diversity
(new learning, knowledge
commons, celebrating
creativity)
At the core of the Flower of Transformation ….
VALUES

34. • Diversity and pluralism
• Self-reliance for basic needs
• Self-governance / autonomy
• Cooperation, collectivity, solidarity, commons, conviviality
• Rights with responsibilities of meaningful participation
• Dignity & creativity of labour
• Qualitative pursuit of happiness
• Equity / justice / inclusion
• Simplicity / sufficiency / enoughness
• Rights of nature / respect for all life forms
• Non-violence, peace, harmony
• Reciprocity, interconnectedness
• Fun!
WORLDVIEWS THAT CELEBRATE LIFE!
Values & ethics of transformative
alternatives ….

35. Worldviews that celebrate life …
Eco-swaraj -
Radical ecological democracy
(Radical = going to the roots)
• achieving human well-being, through:
– all citizens & communities empowered to
participate in decision-making
– socio-economic equity & justice
– respecting other species / the Earth

36. A pluriverse of well-being worldviews
(“a world where many worlds fit”*)
• Indigenous peoples’ territorial struggles and notions
of well-being
– buen vivir: sumak kawsay (Andes), suma qamana (Bolivia), kume
mongen (Chile), kamatse asaike (Peru)
– ubuntu (S. Africa), umuntu (Uganda), ukama (Zimbabwe), eti uwem
(W. Africa)
– kyosei (Japan), sentipensar, minobattsiiwiin (native American),
country (aboriginal Australia)
• Roots & radical re-interpretations of major religions
• Degrowth, Commons, Solidarity economy,
Biocivilisation, Ecosocialism, Ecofeminism …
* Zapatista tenet

37. Issues for dialogue….
Who will catalyse the transformation: Mass movements? NGOs? Worker
unions? Political parties?
Would there be a state? Its form and role?
What would be the nature of global governance? (beyond the UN)
Would there be a private business sector?
How to rethink academics / ‘disciplines’, epistemologies?
How to achieve scale?

38. Outscaling, not upscaling, not replicating
• Resistance + constructive alternatives
• Networking, confederating, co-learning, co-acting
• Local to global linking, new institutions
• Advocacy for policy shifts
• Collective visioning
Two initiatives towards reaching scale …
Scale: Let a thousand flowers bloom … but can
they bring back the forest?

39. Vikalp Sangams (Alternatives Confluences):
collaborations, cross-learning, collective visioning of future

40. Vikalp Sangams
(regional)
Andhra Pradesh: Oct 2014
Tamil Nadu: Feb 2015
Ladakh: July 2015, Sept 2021
Maharashtra: October 2015
Kachchh: July 2016
W. Himalaya: Aug 2016
Kerala: April 2017
Madhya Pradesh: Sept 2017
West Himalaya: 2018-2021
(thematic)
Energy democracy: March 2016
Food sovereignty: 2016 & 2017
Youth: 2017-2022
National: Nov 2017
Peace in conflict areas: June 2018
Health: June 2018
Well-being: 2019-2022
Democracy/swaraj, Oct 2019
Economies, Jan 2020
Worldviews, Nov 2022

41. (or www.alternativesindia.org)
www.vikalpsangam.org

42. Confluences of resistance and alternatives across
world
Sharing, exchanges, collaborations, without any
alternative dominating others
Collective advocacy & solidarity
Collective visioning of a just world … & how to get there!
Global Tapestry of Alternatives
Tejida Global de Alternativas
https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org

43. >60 Endorsing networks / movements / organisations
(members of GTA Assembly)
Afrika Youth Movement
Alliance for Food
Sovereignty in Africa
Alternatives to Capitalism
Coalition Against Land
Grabbing
Community Economies
Collective
Defend the Sacred
Earthlife Africa Jhb
ECOLISE
Ecoversities Alliance
European Commons
Assembly
Faircoop
Focus on the Global South
Forest Peoples Programme
Gaia Foundation
Global Alliance for the
Rights of Nature
Global Ecovillage Network
Global Extractivisms &
Alternatives Initiative
Global Forest Coalition
Global University for
Sustainability
Great Transition Initiative
Health of Mother Earth
Foundation
ICCA Consortium
Indigenous Environment
Network
International Network of
Mountain Indigenous
Peoples
It Takes Roots!
Local Futures
May First Movement
Technology
MINGAnet
Natural Justice
Newalliance.earth
People's Health Movement
Post-Growth Institute
Red Universidad y
Compromiso Social de
Sevilla
REEVO
Research and Degrowth
Sangat
Socialist Workers & Youth
League
Soil Not Oil Coalition
The Alternatives Project
The Convivialists
The Leap
Transition Network
Transnational Institute
Wellbeing Economy Alliance
Women4Biodiversity / CBD
Women’s Caucus
WoMin
Yes to Life No to Mining

45. Radical alternative practices &
worldviews across world
120 authors, >100 essays
Alternative visioning for India: political,
social, cultural, economic, ecological

46. UTOPIA?
Eduardo Galeano, quoting Fernando Birri:
"Utopia is on the horizon. I move two steps closer; it
moves two steps further away.
I walk another ten steps, and utopia runs ten steps further
away.
As much as I may walk, I never reach it.
So what's the point of utopia? The point is this: it makes
us continually advance.”

47. For more information
www.vikalpsangam.org
www.globaltapestryofalternatives.org
www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org
Email: ashishkothari@riseup.net
Ploori-verse, by Ashish Kothari