Sustainable Consumption and Radical Ecological Democracy

Sustainable Consumption, Education and Radical Ecological Democracy

Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh

This presentation…

•The problem: overproduction & overconsumption•Roots of problem: ‘developmentality’, inequities •Towards solutions: Sustainable Consumption Line (SCL) & alternative education •Framework for future: Radical Ecological Democracy

The problem • Ecological unsustainability

– biodiversity loss, climate crisis – decline of productivity on land & water– planetary limits crossed

• Continued human deprivation: – poverty, hunger, homelessness, ill-health,

joblessness (e.g. >70% Indians)

The problem (contd … )

• Increasing, shocking inequalities: consumption levels, income, access

• Rich wantonly unsustainable, poor wanting same lifestyles

Roots of the problem

• Economic: ‘Developmentality’: economic growth fetish & consumerism; controls in hands of few (capitalists or state)

• Political: weak democracy

Roots of the problem

• Social: patriarchy, casteism, selfish individualisation

• Cultural: alienation from nature, spiritual / ethical vacuums

• Education system promotes selfishness, alienation, ‘developmentality’, conformity

From livelihoods to deadlihoods(‘waiting for the weekend’ phenomenon)

How to escape from deadening boredom?

Shop till you drop!

Creation of ‘needs’: Global advertising budget greater than most national budgets

‘Retail therapy’ … really?

Why is consumerism a problem?

• Trashing the earth: extraction & dumping• Someone’s overconsumption is someone

else’s deprivation • False /shortlived sense of satisfaction,

alienation from meaningful social relationships and being happy with less

Are there solutions to the consumerism epidemic?

• Sustainable Consumption Line (SCL): individual and collective (community, village/city, country, humanity)

• Counterpart to minimum well-being standard (e.g. Below Poverty Line)

• Source: Kate Raworth, Oxfam

The doughnut of ‘safe & just space for humanity’

Minimum socio-economic standards

Sustainable Consumption Level

Setting the Sustainable Consumption Line

• Determining maximum individual and collective consumption of: – Energy– Water– Food– Space – Materials …

Setting the SCL

• Complexities: – How much of what is sustainable? How

to measure? (Ecological footprint, other methods…)

– How to factor in existing inequities? – How to accommodate special needs?

Implementing the SCL

• Regulatory measures, e.g. prohibitions on luxury consumption, punishing violations

• Heavy taxes on consumption beyond needs But …

Consumption deeply cultural …. (so) • Public awareness of impacts of overconsumption • Curbing ‘creators of demand’, esp. corporations &

corporate advertising• Culture of ‘enoughness’ & ‘voluntary simplicity’ (like

many cultures in past … aparigraha) … making it ‘cool’ to have sustainable lifestyles

• Basic changes in education and learning from childhood onwards

Learning / education: re-locating it in community, ecological roots, creativity, inquisitiveness … •Adharshila, MP •Jeevanshala, Narmada•SECMOL, Ladakh •Imli-Mahua, Chhattisgarh•Marudam, Tamil Nadu •Adivasi Academy, Guj•Swaraj University, Rajasthan •Beeja Vidyapeeth, Uttarakhand•Bhoomi College, Karnataka•Udaan, Himachal Pradesh

»School?

Skhole = leisure!

Other steps…

• Upper limits to salaries • Empowering ‘source &

sink’ communities to say ‘no’ to extraction and dumping (e.g. Dongria Kondh adivasis vs. Vedanta mining)

Larger context• Sustainable consumption one part of solution …

action needed on: – Patterns of production, ownership, control, use

… who controls, what technologies – Global trade, long-distance consumption – Patterns of settlement and transportation: cities

built for long-distance travel by private car – Rich can eat expensive ‘organic’ food, poor

have to eat cheap junk

Alternative initiatives for well-being … thousands in India

Water

CraftsShelter

Food

Energy

Governance

LivelihoodsConservation

Village revitalisation

Urban sustainability

Learning

Health

Producer companies

Intergenerational transmission of knowledge

•Surshala•Karigarshala•Sagarshala•Kala Vidyapeeth•Parageohydrologists

Traditional & new skills for livelihoods

Alternative Media, Communications, ArtsFreedom from govt & corporate control:

•Community radio (>150); FM? •Mobile-based (CGNetSwara, Chhattisgarh)•Movement newsletters, folk theatre•Film/video (Video Volunteers)•Internet (Scroll, Wire, Infochange, India Together …)•‘Social’ networks … virtual communities

Pic: Puroshottam Thakur

Eco-swaraj: Radical ecological democracy

(Radical = going to the roots, challenging the conventional)

achieving human well-being, through: – empowering all citizens & communities to participate in

decision-making– ensuring socio-economic equity & justice – respecting the limits of the earth

Community (collectives of various kinds, internally interrogated) as basic unit of organisation, not state or private corporation

Ecological resilience & wisdom(conservation of nature, sustainable use, respecting planetary limits)

Radical democracy(decision-making by citizens, accountable representative institutions, ecoregional units)

Economic democracy(means of production in hands of producers, localised self-sufficiency, economy of caring/sharing)

Social justice & wellbeing(equity in gender, class, ability, etc; castelessness, non-dualism; satisfaction, happiness, social relations, peace)

Culture & knowledge diversity(knowledge as commons, respecting cultural/ethnic diversity, democratic R&D)

Towards radical ecological democracy 5 interconnected, integrated spheres

• Autonomy, freedom (swaraj)• Diversity and pluralism• Self-reliance for basics (swavalamban)• Cooperation, collectivity, and ‘commons’ • Rights with responsibilities/duties• Dignity of labour (shram)• Respect for subsistence • Qualitative pursuit of happiness• Equity / equality • Simplicity, enoughness (aparigraha)• Decision-making access to all• Respect for all life forms

At the foundation:

Values & principles

Vikalp Sangams (Alternatives Confluences): practical collaborations, collective visioning of futures in India

Vikalp Sangams (regional)Andhra Pradesh, Oct 2014Tamil Nadu, Feb 2015Ladakh: July 2015Maharashtra, October 2015Kachchh, July 2016W. Himalaya, Aug 2016Kerala, Apr 2017

(thematic)Energy democracy: March 2016Food sovereignty: 2016-17Youth visions: early 2017Adivasi livelihoods: 2018Learning & education: 2018Arts & media: 2018

or www.alternativesindia.orgwww.vikalpsangam.org

www.kalpavriksh.org

For more information….

Email: [email protected]