This paper examines and analyses the organization and functioning of subaltern peasant sanghams (grassroot associations of the poor) and their place-based as well as network-based strategies in building autonomous local communities that challenge the consequences of neoliberal globalization in general …
From an economy addicted to coal and nuclear energy, Germany is fast transforming into one driven by renewables. Its aim is to demonstrate to the world that growth and decarbonisation can go hand in hand. People in Germany are pooling …
An unemployed man, a retired pharmacist and an upholsterer took their stations, behind tables covered in red gingham. Screwdrivers and sewing machines stood at the ready. Coffee, tea and cookies circulated. Hilij Held, a neighbor, wheeled in a zebra-striped suitcase …
Rights of Nature is the recognition and honoring that Nature has rights. It is the recognition that our ecosystems – including trees, oceans, animals, mountains – have rights just as human beings have rights. Rights of Nature is about balancing …
The particular character if what Hugo Chávez called the Bolivarian process lies in the understanding that social transformation can be constructed from two directions, “from above” and “from below.” Bolivarianism—or Chavismo—includes among its participants both traditional organizations and new autonomous
The Longo Mai movement is a group of agricultural cooperatives with a basic grass-roots, alternative, rural, laic and sustainable ideology. It has its origins in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France. Young people from the “generation 68” founded the first settlement …
Based on his work in mountain communities in Mexico (and in other parts of Latin America), David Barkin suggests the need for a ‘‘dialogue of knowledge systems’’ or dialogo de saberes, a concept used in Latin America that is …
The village’s green initiative first started in 1997 when the village council decided that it should build new industries, keep initiatives local, bring in new revenue, and create no debt. Over the past 14 years, the community has equipped nine …
From a village of bird hunters, Mangalajodi in Orissa is now a village of bird protectors. ASHISH KOTHARI recounts how the transformation happened.
“Black-tailed godwits,” said my companion, pointing to a swirling cloud of specks in the distance that alternately …
Even as villages offering home-stays become increasingly common in the Himalaya, there are some that are different. Sarmoli, located on the slopes above Munsiari town in Uttarakhand, offers an experience that few others can. Sitting on the balcony of a …
The official Rio+20 outcome was – somewhat predictably – a bit of a disappointment. However, the real seeds of progress were sown on the sidelines. A number of events at the People’s Summit held the promise of effective citizens’ action …
Located in the Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh, close to the town of Penukonda, the Timbaktu Collective is an initiative to empower villagers (particularly the poorest amongst them) to take charge of their own future. And the future of their …