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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
