“Hola, Gustavo!”- A personal tribute to Gustavo Esteva

The struggle for progressive “alternatives” suffered a great loss last month when one of its prominent standard bearers, Gustavo Esteva, passed away at the age of 86 in Mexico. In his remarkable and revolutionary journey spanning over six decades, Esteva redefined the very idea of “societal transformation”, and charted a unique course of praxis and theory for the realization of his vision. In this personal tribute, Ashish Kothari recounts Esteva’s enormous contributions, and their collaboration in the quest for meaningful “alternatives”.

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The Prosumer Economy: Being Like a Forest

“Transition” explorations are sprouting all over the world. In Turkey, the “prosumer economy” is increasingly gaining recognition and support among the people looking for “alternatives”. Uygar Özesmi explains the progressive environmentalism and egalitarian economic thinking behind this unique initiative.

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“Shared Societies” in the times of Covid-19

As vicious viruses, climate calamities and sapping economic inequalities become the hard realities of contemporary human existence, how should the world prepare itself to deal with them? Clem McCartney analyses the societal response to Covid-19 from the lens of a “Shared Society” to outline a possible way out of the present predicament.

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RED Conversations Series – A Meaningful Journey

Ashish Kothari speaks with Elandria Williams and Mabrouka Mbarek about a unique journey of explorations and discovery they undertook in three cities of the United States to understand the nature of socio-economic struggle being waged by the Black communities and the political awakening it has resulted in.

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Is There A Way Out?

There’s much that makes us feel despondent in the contemporary world – climate change, economic inequality, social discord and a sense of intense personal ennui. How do we move towards solutions which restore sanity to our existence and connect us to others in our communities and to nature? Ashish Kothari and Pallav Das explain the idea, conviction and commitment behind an attempt at documenting some of the serious efforts being made in that direction.

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‘Nature’s Grandchildren’

Rabindranath Tagore designed a revolutionary form of pedagogy for the educational institutions he founded as a challenge to British educational orthodoxy. It was based on revolutionary environmental principles and influenced by the country’s ancient philosophical insights. Aseem Shrivastava discusses its deep relevance for the contemporary world.

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