Environment – Page 2 – Radical Ecological Democracy

Salween Peace Park – A place for all living things

May 31, 2020April 13, 2022 Community, Conservation, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, New Politics, Power Dynamic

Situated in the crucial Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, the ancestral land of the Karen people of Myanmar is threatened by mining, mega-dams, logging and myriad other infrastructural development projects. In this fourth case study in the on-going solidarity series between REDWEb and the global “Yes to Life, No to Mining” (YLNM) network, the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) takes us to the “Salween Peace Park” where a successful initiative is charting a path away from destructive development.

Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Coronavirus and the life lessons from “ordinary” people to save the Earth and ourselves

May 17, 2020April 13, 2022 Agriculture, Community, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, New Economy, New Politics, Sustainability

As the world grapples with the challenges posed by Covid-19, it needs to decipher the messages encoded in the disease. Can we continue on the path of environmental destruction, which scientists predict may make pandemics more likely? How do we create alternatives to the industrial forms of natural resource use which have disrupted natural systems irreversibly? How do we break from the artificially created integration of production, consumption and trade under globalization? Ashish Kothari helps us solve the critical societal puzzle that Coronavirus has confronted us with in these mystifying times.

Action Agenda Analysis Stories

Relocalization in the time of Coronavirus: Building Sustainable Social and Economic Systems

April 10, 2020April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Environment, New Economy, New Politics, Sustainability

As Coronavirus upends the international economic system, it is imperative that the world community creates alternatives which could begin to replace this iniquitous and volatile system with those which are ecologically sustainable and nurturing of the human spirit. Christophe Aguiton, Genevieve Azam, Maxime Combes, Thomas Coutrot and Jean Gadrey describe how “relocalization” could contribute to the crafting of such alternatives.

Agenda Analysis Ideas News Stories

In Defence of Life: Cajamarca, Colombia

February 18, 2020April 13, 2022 Agriculture, Capitalism, Climate Change, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, Politics, Power Dynamic

Deep in the embrace of the Colombian Andes Mountains, farmers, youth and other environmental defenders from Cajamarca have stopped a vast gold mine, re-valued the ‘true treasures’ in their territory and begun to develop regenerative alternatives to mining ‘development’. Mariana Gomez Soto and Benjamin Hitchcock Auciello explore this story of resistance and revival. This is the second case study in the on-going collaborative series between REDWeb and the global “Yes to Life, No to Mining” (YLNM) solidarity network.

Agenda Analysis News Stories

The Coming Green Colonialism

January 3, 2020April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Climate Change, Environment, Politics, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

Given the clenching hold of inertia on international governments, not much was expected from COP25, the recently concluded U.N. Climate Change Conference. Predictably, it turned out to be a cop-out. Nnimmo Bassey gives us an idea of the frustrating and often pointless deliberations that took place inside COP25 and the dead-end they reached. As the author clearly shows, the ruling elite is utterly unable and unwilling to think in terms of alternatives to the ever failing neoliberal dispensation, and has completely abdicated any responsibility towards preventing climate chaos. A people’s struggle is the only way out.

Analysis Conversations Ideas Stories

REDWeb Conversations Series – Cultivating autonomy in Rojava

December 15, 2019April 13, 2022 Community, Democracy, Environment, New Politics, Power Dynamic

Rojava is a significant experiment in grass-roots democracy in a region mired in desperate political conflict. The socio-political and economic achievements made over the last few years in Rojava form an aspirational inflection point in the history of the Kurdish people as well as that of West Asia. Ashish Kothari speaks with Yasin Duman on how the Autonomous Administration in Rojava became an agent of change while establishing stability in northern Syria.

Action Analysis News Stories

A historical victory in Ecuador

October 19, 2019April 13, 2022 Activism, Alternatives, Economy, Environment

A popular uprising in Ecuador recently forced the government to withdraw a decree being imposed on the country by the International Monetary Fund. Miriam Lang explains the environmental, political and economic context in which the popular movement emerged and gained ground to pose a challenge to neoliberal orthodoxy in Ecuador.

Action Analysis Conversations Stories

REDWeb Conversations Series – Defining A Utopian Present In Christiania, Copenhagen.

September 23, 2019April 13, 2022 Ecology, Environment, New Economy, Politics, Resistance

What started as a politicized form of squatting in an abandoned military base has turned into a unique experiment in utopian thought and practice in Christiania, an autonomous neighborhood in Copenhagen. Ashish Kothari and Shrishtee Bajpai speak with Natasha Verco, a resident and activist about the promise and challenges of Christiania.

Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Eight Principles of a New Economics for the People of a Living Earth

July 15, 2019April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Economic, Education, Environment, Finance

Contemporary economics propagates the false notion that we humans are primarily financial beings whose well-being is predicated upon endless growth on the planet and the consequent generation of money. The climate emergency facing us today has shattered that premise, underlining the fact that we are first and foremost living beings whose well-being depends on the health and vitality of a living Earth. David Korten challenges the flawed theories and principles that bear major responsibility for the unfolding crisis and proposes a new set of economic principles which could help us navigate the current environmental mess.

Analysis Conversations Stories

RED Conversations Series – Housing is a human right

June 26, 2019April 13, 2022 Degrowth, Environment, New Economy, Sustainability

The housing market is one of the important pillars of the contemporary free-market economy. It has also proven to be its achilles heel, as was evident during the market collapse of 2008, which was triggered by the bursting of the real-estate bubble. The modern housing scenario is marked by rampant household indebtedness, rapacious land-grabbing and corrupt real-estate developments. Given the resource intensive nature of the contemporary structures it is not surprising that buildings today contribute around 30 percent of carbon emissions, globally. How do we tackle this mammoth problem that could turn into a socio-economic catastrophe at any time? Ashish Kothari discusses this critical issue with Anitra Nelson and Fracois Schneider, the editors of “Housing for Degrowth: Principles, Models, Challenges and Opportunities”, which looks for feasible alternatives to the current housing mess.

Action Ideas Stories

Market Fundamentalism vs. Community Rights on the Danish Coastline

April 30, 2019April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Community Rights, Cooperatives, Energy, Environment, Europe, Market Fundamentalism

In the early 2000s, the market forces tried to upend the quiet lives of the fishing communities in northern Denmark, intending to make a fast buck on the fishing riches of the Bay of Jammerbugt coastline. Mathilde Autzen recounts the inspiring story of a smart and bold pushback organized by the Thorupstrand community to reclaim their fishing rights and lay the foundation of a sustainable future.

Analysis Ideas Stories

REDWeb Anniversary Series -Marx and Political Ecology

December 21, 2018April 13, 2022 Climate Change, Community, Ecology, Economy, Environment, Politics

The steadily evolving field of Political Ecology is helping us figure out the impact of social, political and economic factors on our environment. Omar Dahbour delves into Marxian theory to explain how people’s equity in the ownership and management of natural resources, and of sustainability in the maintenance and health of the ecosystems could become the essential core of contemporary Political Ecology, and in the process help address the climate and environmental challenges facing the world. This article is part of the Radical Ecological Democracy website’s efforts towards offering a critical analysis of Karl Marx’s ideas in the context of the emerging alternative thinking and practice on environmental justice and socio-economic equality, as we continue to observe his 200th birth anniversary year.

Analysis Ideas Stories

How noble was the Nobel this time?

November 23, 2018April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Climate Change, Development, Ecology, Energy, Environment

William Nordhaus was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on how to address climate change using cost-benefit analysis of limiting greenhouse gases. Gurudas Nulkar helps us understand the intricate nature of Nordhaus’ research and explains why it needs closer scrutiny before any conclusions can be drawn about the long-term benefits of his work on climate change.

Analysis Ideas Stories

Ecofeminism as Politics: nature, Marx and the postmodern (2nd edition) by Ariel Salleh.

October 4, 2018October 8, 2018 Capitalism, Colonialism, Community, Ecofeminism, Ecology, Environment, New Politics

“Ecofeminism as Politics: nature, Marx and the postmodern”, by Ariel Salleh is a seminal work, which helped redirect the often floundering debate on international environmental crises in the 1990s towards the “eurocentric capitalist patriarchal culture built on the domination of Nature, and domination of Woman ‘as nature.’ In the last twenty years, Salleh’s book has challenged us to decipher the essential link between green politics, eco-socialism, post-colonial theory and eco-feminism as we try to design meaningful alternatives to the current neoliberal dispensation. David Pellow helps us grasp Ariel Salleh’s incisive logic in this review of the second edition of her book.

Analysis Conversations Ideas Stories

RED Conversations Series – The Emerging Idea of “Radical Well-Being”

October 2, 2018April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Climate, Community, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, New Politics

Paul Robbins talks with Ashish Kothari about the idea of “Radical Well-Being” and the road towards realizing it. This conversation is based on a presentation made by Ashish at the 2nd Biennial Conference of the Political Ecology Network (POLLEN) held in Oslo, June 2018.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Small and Shared vs McMansions and Slums

August 3, 2018April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Cooperatives, Environment, Innovation, New Economy, Sustainability

Contemporary urban housing has become an economic and environmental mess, a festering problem forever dodging solutions. Anitra Nelson explores the way out of the crisis and discusses the role cohousing could play in rejuvenating the urban space.

Action Agenda Ideas Stories

Mapping Grassroots Solutions: Lessons learned from the Utah Resilience Map Project

August 2, 2018April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Development, Environment, New Politics, Power Dynamic

As grassroots solutions to the current neoliberal orthodoxy emerge all around us, it is important to figure out a way to make them physically accessible for people. Emily Nicolosi writes about the Utah Resilience Map, a path breaking effort putting alternatives emerging in and around Salt Lake City on a map. It’s a bold initiative which challenges the stranglehold of corporate online mapping and an emerging template for replication at other places.

Action Agenda Analysis Policies Stories

Lessons from the Kickapoo: Radical Conviviality in Community Conservation

July 30, 2018April 13, 2022 Community, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, New Politics, Sustainability

The Kickapoo River valley in Wisconsin, USA was condemned to reckless “development” in the 1970s as a mega-dam flood control project got underway. But that move was met with resistance from the Ho-Chunk people who consider the area their sacred homeland. Paul Robbins and Marcy West recount the powerful story of a community led and focused ecological revival of the Kickapoo valley, underscoring the triumph of negotiations and collaboration over mistrust and fear.