Power Dynamic – Radical Ecological Democracy

“Giorgia on our minds”: Exploring “alternatives” as the ultra-right overtakes Italy

October 9, 2022October 11, 2022 Capitalism, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic

As the ultra-right prepares to take power in Italy following the recent elections, a major soul searching is underway among the left and progressive circles on what ails their movement, and how to reconstruct an agenda to appeal to the alienated Italian electorate. Mitja Stefancic probes the recent failures of the Italian left and concludes that progressive politics can only be revived if alternative political movements are accompanied by reliable economic “alternatives” that challenge the top-down neoliberal model.

Agenda Analysis Ideas Policies Stories

Technology and (dis)empowerment: A call to technologists

September 30, 2022October 2, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Development, Power Dynamic, Revolutionary Technology

Could technology become an unambiguous force for social good, and help usher in a more equitable and fairer ecosystem capable of handling challenges of inequality, exploitation, poverty and climate change? Aaditeshwar Seth answers this important question in his recently published book, “Technology and (Dis)empowerment: A Call to Technologists”. In this article, Seth discusses the many ways in which technology could aim to overturn hegemonic and unjust social and economic structures to create an equal and just society, a strikingly bold thread running through his book.

Analysis Ideas Stories

Localization: Bringing about Buen Vivir to address climate fluctuations and globalization

August 21, 2022August 21, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Development, Environment, Localization, New Economy, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

In the last fifty years or so of rampant globalization, the decision making processes related to all aspects of people’s lives – food, water, shelter, learning, health, governance – have become restricted to a self-serving collaboration between corporations and international finance, enabled by their nexus with governments all over the world, whether they are openly autocratic or continue to operate under the pretense of democracy. The results now stare us in our faces – runaway economic inequality and increasingly frequent environmental crises. Is there a way out of this quagmire? Christian Stalberg advocates for local control over the means of production and trade, and self-reliance in meeting basic needs from within a human-scale local region. Based on a presentation he made at a session at the World Social Forum earlier this year in Mexico City, Stalberg advances the Andean idea of “Buen Vivir” centered on “localization”, where our choices can be informed by their impact on the earth’s ecology as well as human wellbeing, not just the chimera of convenience and price tag.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Five axes of transition: Imagining “alternatives” for the post-pandemic future

July 30, 2022July 31, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Ecology, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

At some point in the next year or so, we, as a society, may enter the endgame of the Covid-19 pandemic. But, are we, in any way, prepared to deal with the political and economic stresses that will continue to hound us long after? And, how do we even begin to purge ourselves of the pandemic induced detritus that clogs the arteries of our socio-psychological existence? Arturo Escobar, a prominent political-ecologist and an old ally of the Radical Ecological Democracy website, lays out a strategy – what he calls the five axes of transition – needed to come out on the other side of this societal collapse with hope, and to “give impetus to our deepest yearnings for other worlds and worlds otherwise.”

Action Analysis Ideas Stories

Carbon commodification in the Peruvian Amazon: The Kichwa People’s Struggle Against Territorial and Climate Destruction

July 26, 2022July 26, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

The contemporary model of “fortress conservation” continues to dispossess Indigenous Peoples around the world of their territories to justify the implementation of dubious projects pushing climate change mitigation mechanisms and biodiversity conservation actions. It ignores the ancient rights of communities over their territories, and actively impairs their own local governance systems perfected over time. The resistance to this fraudulent attempt at conservation, however, is gaining ground all over the world. In this article on the emerging issues in Peru, Matias Pérez Ojeda del Arco discusses the ongoing struggle of the Kichwa people to ensure the enjoyment of their traditional livelihoods and the continuation of their territorialities and relationalities with their forests. While the situation is far from perfect, this contestation has allowed for the creation of an “alternative” paradigm where the communities are recognized as key actors for any conservation action undertaken by the Peruvian State to meet its climate commitments.

Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

A Sisyphean Politics of Desire – Camus’ Philosophy in the Anthropocene

June 22, 2022June 23, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Ecology, Environment, New Politics, Power Dynamic

Albert Camus’ outstanding scrutiny of the human condition using the lens of the “absurd” has afforded post-war western society a keen insight into its intensifying socio-psychological ennui and fatigue. Yet, is that somewhat edifying self-reflection enough to discern and intervene in the current unceasing tumble into an environmental and economic dystopia? Adam Cogan examines Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus” to weigh the suitability of its message to effect societal mediations, and concludes that a world beyond Camus’ faltering exhortations needs to be fervidly reimagined to contest the “despondency of capitalist realism, and the destruction it condones.”

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

“Beautiful Resistance” in Palestine: Challenging occupation by forging inner peace

June 13, 2022June 15, 2022 Community, Democracy, Development, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Resistance, Revolutionary Struggle

Resistance is a multifaceted undertaking – it demands clarity of purpose, steady action, regular strategic and tactical innovations, and access to resources. But, most importantly, it needs committed people at peace with their purpose. In Palestine, where the ugliness of occupation, violation of human rights and dehumanizing oppression are a lived reality, how do people respond without succumbing to frenzied violence, particularly its youth who grow up witnessing the unceasing shattering of their future, everyday? Alrowwad, a Palestinian cultural and arts organization uses the philosophy of “Beautiful Resistance” to work with the country’s youth and children to establish a sense of creative peace in their hearts and minds, with the ultimate aim of transmitting that ideal to the rest of the Palestinian society, and to lay the “alternative” pathway to freedom and self-rule. In this article, Abdelfattah Abusrour, the founder of “Alrowwad” discusses the philosophy and the practice of “Beautiful Resistance”.

Analysis Ideas News Stories

Gustavo Esteva Had a Vision

April 10, 2022April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Development, Environment, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Revolutionary Struggle, Social Change, Social Movements, Socialism

All through his uniquely inventive life, Gustavo Esteva conceived and established trailblazing initiatives, opening up fresh possibilities to fashion new worlds, and he did so with an ever-expanding group of spirited and thoughtful collaborators, particularly in his native Mexico. In this tribute, David Barkin, one of Esteva’s long-time comrades, recounts the enormous impact his ideas and initiatives had on the quest for societal transformation.

Action Analysis Ideas News Stories

Is Italy’s new vision for environmental protection a real commitment to carbon neutrality?

April 3, 2022April 7, 2022 Alternatives, Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environment, New Politics, Power Dynamic

As the need to address climate change and other environmental crises becomes increasingly critical, many countries have found it necessary to amend their national constitutions to strengthen existing provisions for environmental protection, and even introduce new ones. This past February, the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament passed legislation to amend two crucial Articles in the Constitution to align the country with the rest of Western Europe’s progressive vision on climate intervention. Fausto Corvino and Mitja Stefancic discuss the promise and challenges inherent in this significant move, particularly as the energy fallout from the on-going Russia-Ukraine conflict causes complex and worrying problems for Italy.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Ingredients for a decolonial politics – cooking up a future to delight in

March 3, 2022March 3, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Social Change

Creating “alternatives” to the political and economic structures that bolster the existing neoliberal order is as much a function of resisting their impact on society as it is to understand and challenge our own co-option into the colonial mindset that perpetuates that oppression. In this article, Eva Schonvled and Justin Kenrick present an inspiring framework for activists, academics, civil society campaigners and radical reformers to create “alternatives to our internalized and cultural habits of domination.”

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Is post-capitalism post-money?

February 10, 2022July 6, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Ecological democracy, New Economy, New Politics, Political Ecology, Power Dynamic

If money is the lynchpin of the contemporary capitalist order then it is imperative that an alternative to that world is imagined and crafted outside the constraints of money. In her path-breaking new book, “Beyond Money, A Post-Capitalist Strategy”, Anitra Nelson lays the ideological foundation of a post-money society based on real, non-monetary, social and ecological values that define a new order committed to fulfilling people’s basic needs. In this exclusive article for RED, Nelson provides an insight into her revolutionary ideas essential for designing a world without socio-economic inequality and crippling environmental stresses.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Marketing the planet: The financialization of nature

January 31, 2022May 26, 2022 Community, Democracy, Development, Ecology, Environment, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

As pressure increases on corporations to transform their business models to address climate change, their response has been a stealth move in the shape of a project, which aims to financialize nature. The power elite recognize that as ecological services regulating climate, and providing food, water, soil stabilization and cultural values become scarce and gradually degrade, they become more attractive to financial markets as economic assets for speculation and trade. Helena Paul discusses why this attempt at deflecting attention from the real need to change our current economic system based on perpetual growth would prove disastrous, and how “alternative” ideas and practices are contesting this nefarious design to perpetuate the neoliberal order.

Action Agenda Analysis Conversations Ideas News Stories

Indian farmers prevail: A conversation with Kavitha Kuruganti, a farmers’ rights activist

December 27, 2021January 30, 2022 Agriculture, Agro-ecology, Capitalism, Climate Change, Development, Food Sovereignty, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Revolutionary Struggle

No mass movement in India’s recent history has captured the imagination of the country the way the just concluded farmers’ movement did over the last one year period. After a protracted struggle the farmers were able to force the Indian government to withdraw three farm laws, which were aimed at corporatizing the country’s agriculture. In a wide ranging conversation with Kavitha Kuruganti, an Indian farmers’ rights activist, I discuss the implications of this victory for the Indian farmers, and how a sustainable and people-focused agricultural alternative could be constructed in the future.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Caught in a rut?: How to stop resisting change and establish systemic “alternatives”?

November 17, 2021April 19, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Development, Environment, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

It has always been hard for societies to effect change. Even when it does occur, change is painfully slow, and often late. Clem McCartney explores the socio-psychological reasons behind this resistance, and advances a strategy for intervening in the moribund societal discourse on meaningful transformation.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

ANARCHY, SOCIALITY, AND THE WAY

November 9, 2021April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Community, Democracy, Development, Ecological democracy, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic

As we continue to interrogate the ideas of “alternatives” and “transitions”, John Clark offers a response to Ted Trainer’s comparative analysis of “ecoanarchism”and “ecosocialism”, featured earlier on the website. While stressing the common ground between the two ideas, Clark points out that the effort towards creating “communities of liberation, solidarity, awakening and care” has been “a mere object of ideological faith, detached from practical reality” for ecoanarchism, a failing, which needs to be redressed for it to contribute effectively to social change.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Ending systems of domination: Reclaiming our bodies and politics from global trauma

October 24, 2021April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Climate Change, Community, Democracy, Ecology, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic

COP26 is just around the corner, and the world is preparing for another bout of smoke and mirrors from the international ruling class – looking sincere while doing nothing with sincerity. People understand the need to create solutions to the climate and economic crises independent of the elite, and many initiatives are underway all over the world. Eva Schonveld and Justin Kenrick of the “Grassroots to Global” platform describe the thinking, and the preparations afoot to hold “Sunset” and “Sunrise” assemblies to advance solidarity and action on crucial socio-political and ecological issues.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

The path to a just and sustainable society

September 25, 2021April 13, 2022 Community, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

If the current neoliberal dispensation continues to make the society increasingly unequal, and the planet progressively unlivable, how do we transition to a new system, which addresses these challenges with deliberate intent and assured success? In the second part of his discussion on “Eco-anarchism”, Ted Trainer lays out the core characteristics of a post consumer capitalist society, operating on the principles of “The Simpler Way”.

Action Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

We Thought It Was Fiction

September 18, 2021April 13, 2022 Capitalism, Cooperatives, Democracy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Revolutionary Struggle, Revolutionary Technology

The recent revelations concerning Pegasus, the malicious hacking software developed by the Israeli tech firm, NSO, confirm the paralyzingly intrusive capabilities being developed by the State-Corporate nexus to surveil and dominate the increasingly connected world we live in. Alfredo Lopez, Melanie Bush, Hamid Khan and Ken Montenegro, our colleagues from ” May First Movement Technology” discuss how the progressive and “alternatives” communities should organize to push back against this steady erosion of people’s rights, and work to end tech dominance and intrusion into our lives.

Agenda Analysis Ideas Stories

Eco-socialism vs. Eco-anarchism: Exploring “The Simpler Way”

August 29, 2021April 13, 2022 Community, New Economy, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Sustainability

As the search for alternatives to the current neoliberal order becomes increasingly essential and urgent, analysts and activists are beginning to clarify their theoretical frameworks for crafting a new world. In this first part of a two part series, Ted Trainer discusses the idea of “The Simpler Way” to construct a sustainable future based on Eco-anarchism.

Action Analysis Ideas Stories

Challenging colonization: Building sustainable human and natural communities in Palestine

July 29, 2021April 13, 2022 Community, Development, Ecological democracy, Indigenous Communities, New Politics, Power Dynamic, Revolutionary Struggle

As resistance to Israeli occupation continues to inspire the Palestinian people, a search for “alternatives” is also emerging as a national imperative. In a two part series we explore how the universe beyond the political question is being imagined by the people of Palestine. In the first part, Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh gives an insight into the hard work of environmental conservation in a landscape battered by colonization.

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