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A
Tracing its diverse meanings and practices across history and political movements, rather than a single notion, autonomy emerges as plural — encompassing struggles that challenge capitalism, industrialism, western modernity, and patriarchy. Distinguishing autonomy from individualist libertarianism and state-centric socialism, this entry focuses on autonomic movements that prioritize collective self-governance and radical democracy. Drawing from Indigenous, feminist, and anti-capitalist struggles, these movements go beyond formal democracy, seeking to dismantle the state while constructing grassroots power based on the principles of ''Mandar Obedeciendo''. Autonomy also challenges economic society’s premise of scarcity, replacing it with sufficiency, and disassociates from western modernity’s values, embracing pluralism and relational understandings of personhood. Feminist autonomies center care, dignity, and life itself. Highlighting examples such as the Zapatistas and Mexico’s National Indigenous Congress, the essay presents autonomy as a global, ongoing process of reimagining social, political, and economic life from the ground up. +
B
El Buen Vivir, concepto con raíces en las cosmovisiones de los pueblos originarios del Abya-Yala, propone una forma de vida basada en la armonía, el equilibrio y la relacionalidad entre personas, comunidades, otros seres vivos y la naturaleza, priorizando la reproducción de la vida sobre la acumulación de capital. No es un modelo único, sino una pluralidad de “buenos convivires” que integran reciprocidad, complementariedad y solidaridad, inspirados en diversas tradiciones comunitarias globales (como el ubuntu, swaraj o convivialidad). Frente a la crisis del “progreso” y el “desarrollo”, plantea alternativas postdesarrollistas que descolonizan saberes, rechazan el extractivismo y construyen sociedades solidarias, diversas y sustentables desde las comunidades. Implica repensar la economía, la política y la cultura en clave comunitaria, con una ética de lo suficiente, reconociendo que las transiciones deben gestarse sobre todo desde abajo para abrir un horizonte civilizatorio más allá del capitalismo. +
D
Democratic confederalism is a societal organization ideology rooted in the autonomy of communes, which are the smallest social units, such as neighborhoods or villages. These communes are interconnected in a confederate structure, allowing them to address larger issues collectively. This concept emerged from the Kurdish freedom movement, which, after the Soviet Union's collapse, recognized that true freedom could not be achieved through traditional state structures, historically linked to societal exploitation.
The ideology is built on three core principles: women's liberation, social ecology, and radical democracy. Women's liberation is seen as essential, as historical exploitation began with the subjugation of women. Social ecology emphasizes the need for a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature, asserting that ecological balance is vital for a dignified future. Radical democracy extends beyond political systems to encompass personal relationships, advocating for respect and humility among individuals. Democratic confederalism has been implemented in various regions, notably in Rojava, where approximately 5 million people engage in self-governance without state intervention. The model has also inspired Kurdish exiles in Europe and other communities worldwide, promoting cooperative solutions to social, economic, and political challenges. +
E
Eco-territorial internationalism is a concept and a praxis that emerges from the convergence of social, ecological, and territorial struggles across borders. It articulates experiences of resistance and transformation—such as democratic energy, agroecology, food sovereignty, workers’ control, and housing justice— by connecting local roots to a global horizon of systemic change. These are not isolated or merely “local” efforts; they embody a global sense of place and foster transnational solidarities grounded in justice, autonomy, and care. In the face of green colonialism, ecological imperialism, and systemic polycrises, this new internationalism reclaims the radical legacies of anti-imperialism while expanding the political imagination toward just transitions and ecological expressions of sovereignty. It challenges the dominant models of extractivist development and resists greenwashed capitalist transitions that reproduce sacrifice zones, particularly in the Global South. Eco-territorial internationalism does not abandon the state but goes beyond statist approaches, promoting multiscalar articulations and a biocentric politics of scale—from the body, to rivers and ecosystems. It is already in motion, through networks that articulate grassroots movements and resistances confronting the root causes of the crisis and shaping pluriversal futures. +
Las energías comunitarias en América Latina constituyen una práctica transformadora que busca garantizar la vida digna y la permanencia en los territorios frente a los impactos del modelo energético dominante, marcado por exclusión, despojo y dependencia. No se reducen a la electricidad ni a la técnica, sino que abarcan una visión integral de la energía como tejido social, cultural y político. Su origen está en comunidades, principalmente rurales, que han respondido a las secuelas de proyectos extractivos e hidroeléctricos, creando alternativas descentralizadas y respetuosas con la vida. Estas iniciativas se basan en principios como la solidaridad, el autoconocimiento, la desprivatización del saber y el buen vivir, promoviendo autonomía, salud y mejores condiciones de trabajo. En la práctica incluyen tecnologías y saberes diversos: biodigestores, sistemas solares, agroecología, bioconstrucción o mingas. Más allá de métricas técnicas, su alcance radica en forjar un modelo energético justo, sustentable y popular capaz de enfrentar la crisis civilizatoria y climática. +
La palabra eutopía proviene del griego eu (bueno) y topos (lugar), y significa literalmente “el buen lugar”. A diferencia de la utopía (ou-topos, “no lugar”), que remite a una promesa futura e inexistente, la eutopía alude a lugares reales, ya existentes, donde se prefiguran formas de vida alternativas al orden dominante. En esta entrada, inspirada en el pensamiento de Jean Robert, se desarrolla la eutopía como una experiencia encarnada de ruptura con la modernidad capitalista, visible en prácticas autónomas, vernáculas y comunitarias que resisten la guerra contra la subsistencia, la desmesura tecnológica y el vaciamiento del lugar por el espacio abstracto. Retomando conceptos como la contraproductividad, el pensar con los pies y la crítica a los monopolios radicales —en diálogo con Ivan Illich—, se afirma que la eutopía no es un plan o una meta, sino un compromiso cotidiano con formas de habitar que sostienen la vida desde el arraigo, la reciprocidad y la proporción. Lejos de ofrecer un futuro ideal, la eutopía invita a redescubrir los fragmentos del mundo bueno que aún persisten en medio del colapso de la modernidad. +
G
Good Living, a concept rooted in the worldviews of the indigenous peoples of Abya-Yala, proposes a way of life based on harmony, balance, and relationality between people, communities, other living beings, and nature, prioritizing the reproduction of life over the accumulation of capital. It is not a single model, but a plurality of “good ways of living together” that integrate reciprocity, complementarity, and solidarity, inspired by diverse global community traditions (such as ubuntu, swaraj, or conviviality). Faced with the crisis of “progress” and “development,” it proposes post-developmentalist alternatives that decolonize knowledge, reject extractivism, and build supportive, diverse, and sustainable societies from within communities. It involves rethinking the economy, politics, and culture in community terms, with an ethic of sufficiency, recognizing that transitions must be brought about primarily from below in order to open up a civilizational horizon beyond capitalism. +
H
Hiisi has several layered meanings in Finnish and related languages but in its core it refers to a sacred place, grove, forest, a graveyeard in the forest or other sacred place in the old Finnish forest religion. Some of the epic songs and early documentation refers hiisi to be a Forest power that controls animals and the hunt. These meanings are similar across the taiga boreal forest zone of the northern part of Earth. This article traces the evolution and subsequent loss of hiisi in Finland from the 13th century to 2025. The article proposes that this endemic cultural concept is the equivalent of the English concept community-conserved area – ICCA. The article mentions a long self-reflection process in Finland to find appropriate cultural concept of this important, emergent conservation meaning. Hiisi, despite the loss of meaning between 1700-1900s, links both the ancient and the re-emergent meanings associated with community- and village-relevant forests, groves and the biocultural and endemic meanings associated with them. The article also presents evidence of similar concepts from related languages Udmurtian and Estonian, strengthening the argument. +
J
Jineolojî, meaning “science of women” in Kurdish, is a revolutionary approach to knowledge production that places women’s liberation at the heart of building a free, ecological, and communal society. Emerging from over four decades of the Kurdish women’s freedom struggle and introduced by Abdullah Öcalan in 2008, it challenges patriarchal, positivist, and Eurocentric scientific traditions, redefining womanhood as a social, political, and historical identity beyond biological determinism and emphasizing the reconnection of women, society, nature, and life. Drawing on the Kurdish Women’s Movement, ancient communal traditions, and global histories of women’s resistance, Jineolojî seeks to rewrite history from women’s perspectives, collect and share women’s wisdom, and serve as a guiding science for a women’s revolution that transforms gender relations and fosters communal living. In practice, it operates through grassroots education, research, and organizing—linking local working groups, municipal policies, and autonomous women’s structures in Kurdistan and beyond—using methods such as popular education, historical research, cultural revival, and political participation. Since 2015, it has grown into a network of academies, research centers, publications, and public programs, confronting state repression, militarized occupation, and the co-optation of feminist theory, while insisting on structural transformation over integration into exploitative systems. In a world marked by patriarchal violence, authoritarianism, and ecological crisis, Jineolojî offers both a methodology and a political horizon for liberation, communal life, and democratic ecology. +
K
In a time of climate crisis and ecological collapse, kaitiakitanga — an Indigenous ethic of care rooted in whakapapa (the genealogical ties linking all beings back to a shared origin), reciprocity, and intergenerational responsibility– offers a way forward. More than “guardianship,” it is a living practice that binds people, lands, waters, and skies in mutual obligation. Written together by mana whenua (peoples whose whakapapa binds them to this land as its first guardians, carrying inherited responsibilities to protect its mauri. ) and tangata Tiriti(those peoples who journeyed here under the promise of Te Tiriti, invited into relationship, sharing in the duty of kaitiakitanga alongside mana whenua), this piece weaves origin, practice, challenge, and possibility: from iwi-led restoration projects to the tensions of commodification, tokenism, and extractive economies. We explore how kaitiakitanga, grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori authority, can be honoured in policy, education, and daily life — in Aotearoa and across the pluriverse. At its heart lies a simple truth: “kia tupu, kia hua, kia puaawai te whenua, ka ora te tangata” — when the land is well, the people will flourish. +
Kotahitanga is the heartbeat of collective life in te ao Māori—unity woven not from sameness, but from the strength of many threads moving as one. Rooted in whakapapa –the genealogical ties linking all beings back to a shared origin–, it binds people, whenua, waters, ancestors, and the unseen in a web of reciprocity and care. From Tāwhaki’s sacred ascent, sustained by ancestral guidance, to the Tainui waka’s ocean crossing, kotahitanga has guided survival, resistance, and renewal. It lives in the Kīngitanga’s call to stand together, in Dame Whina Cooper’s 1975 Land March, and in the 300,000 voices who opposed the 2024 attempt to weaken Te Tiriti o Waitangi. +
L
Since emerging on social media in 2018, Land Back has grown to become a robust concept embedded in North American Indigenous people’s political organizing. Although relatively ‘new’, the concept has its origins in a long history against settler colonialism in North America. At its core, the idea, bolstered by its use in Indigenous cultural and scholarly productions, aims to restore material gains into Indigenous hands—whether that be territory, money, authority, or several other sites of restitution. Land Back can be mobilized in many ways, including reoccupation of lands, asserting Indigenous law, or returning stolen goods. The way Land Back manifests in terms of direct action organizing continues to evolve and grow in popularity.
While Land Back has many promising elements to it—including its democratic and accessible use—there are growing concerns that non-Indigenous people and settler state actors may take up the term Land Back in ways that diminish its original intent and salience. Still, Land Back continues to serve as a prominent political framework for many Indigenous people and breathes new life into an age-old belief: Indigenous people have a right to their territory and a right to conduct life on those territories in ways they see fit—whether or not non-Indigenous people agree. +
M
Masling is a special word used to praise the soundscape of waterfalls and the swarming of honeybees—sounds that inspired the legendary group singing Pasibutbut of the Bunun Isbukun people. Over time, it has come to serve as a unique metaphor and symbol for the highest inner qualities of a person: an unconditional calm and creativity that reframes difficulties into potential solutions, and the capacity to turn a world vision into action—transforming an unjust world order while sustaining dynamic balance and dialectical harmony. +
P
The Filipino concept of “pakikibaka,” often translated as “struggle,” entails a distinct and relational mode of collective resistance. In this dictionary sketch of the term, I explain the linguistic, historical, and philosophical roots of pakikibaka to show how it departs from the individualistic notion of “struggle” in Anglophone and Western thought. Derived from the root “baka” (“to fight”) and the prefix “pakiki-” (“to join”), pakikibaka emphasizes participation and solidarity where all must struggle with and for others. Early colonial dictionaries reduced “pagbabaka”—a more circulated inflection of the term then—to mere “warcraft”, but Filipino usage transformed and soon captured collectivity and shared resistance. With the help of Filipinists and their comments on Philippine society and social movements, this essay links pakikibaka to native concepts of relationality, which puts primacy on the unity of self and others. Everyday and revolutionary practices of pakikibaka from labor strikes to Indigenous educational practices demonstrate its grounding in justice, dignity, and communal liberation. The enduring slogan “makibaka, huwag matakot” encapsulates this call to step forward, link arms, and share in a struggle that is never meant to be borne alone. +
R
Eco-swaraj, or Radical Ecological Democracy (RED), is a community-centered framework for just and sustainable well-being that challenges state- and corporate-dominated models. Rooted in grassroots initiatives in India yet resonating worldwide, RED integrates ecological resilience, equity, radical democracy, economic self-reliance, and cultural plurality. It emphasizes commons, sufficiency, diversity, and non-violence, while rejecting top-down ideologies in favor of evolving, participatory praxis. Examples range from Indigenous self-determination in India to the Kurdish Rojava movement, Zapatistas in Mexico, and the Amadiba in South Africa. Through processes like Vikalp Sangam and the Global Tapestry of Alternatives, RED fosters pluriversal pathways of autonomy and ecological democracy. +
This entry explores relationality as a concept, practice, ethics, and politics that challenges the dominant modern ontology of separation underpinning capitalism, colonialism, and state power. Rooted in Indigenous cosmovisions and expanded by activist and scholarly debates, relationality posits radical interdependence among humans, non-humans, and earth-beings as the foundation of reality. Drawing on examples such as Ausangate in Peru and the Atrato River in Colombia, the article examines how environmental conflicts emerge as pluriversal contact zones where divergent ontologies—state, corporate, environmentalist, and Indigenous—collide and negotiate. These encounters highlight tensions between extractivist temporalities and relational worlds grounded in reciprocity, ritual, and ecological continuity, as seen in the struggles of the Wayúu against wind energy projects. By advancing relational and pluriversal perspectives, the article argues for ecosocial transitions that move beyond cultural change toward ontological transformation, envisioning pluriversal futures built on coexistence, autonomy, and the healing of the web of life +
S
Sacrifice zones are areas where various urban, industrial, and agro-industrial capital accumulation projects are concentrated, producing extreme levels of contamination of the sources of life in the territories involved. The logic of sacrifice is established to the extent that states and companies generate a relationship between sacrifice and economic development, so that the destruction of certain places seems justified for the greater good. These places are produced historically through long and profound transformations, generating the conditions for their sacrifice and normalizing the devastation. The notion of sacrifice zones has been implemented and nurtured not only by academia, but also by political spaces that denounce environmental injustices and structural violence resulting from the sacrificial design of their territories, making it a concept with great heuristic potential. +
Salugpungan, meaning “unity” in the Talaingod Manobo language, is both a philosophy and a practice that guides the Lumad peoples of Mindanao in their struggle for land, life, and self-determination. Rooted in collective farming, rituals, schools, and everyday acts of cooperation, salugpungan reflects how survival and resistance are inseparable. Catherine “Katkat” Dalon recalls learning unity as a child in Lumad schools, where lessons combined literacy with communal practices like sharing food, planting seeds, and caring for children. Historically, the term also names the movement born in the 1990s against logging corporations and state militarization, when Lumad leaders and communities organized to defend the Pantaron Range and their ancestral territories. From this struggle emerged community schools that wove together education and resistance. Despite repression, closures, and the loss of teachers and leaders, salugpungan endures as a moral and political force: a reminder that victory is certain when strength is united. +
Social ecology is a holistic theory dealing with social history, the human species, and our role in the natural world. Its proponents advocate for a restructuring of society from the bottom up, replacing hierarchy, exploitation, and homogenization with communal autonomy, interdependence, and radical ecological humanism. Social ecology is distinctive for its argument in favor of direct democracy as an expression of ecological politics; that direct democracy is “ecological” both in function and form. In this way, social ecologists ultimately view political revolution and ecological evolution as one and the same process. The 20th-century thinker Murray Bookchin dedicated himself to cultivating this perspective for many decades, incorporating elements of dialectical Marxism, classical anarchism, anthropology, urban studies, technology studies, ecological design, and political philosophy. The following entry introduces the background, key themes, and practical examples of this philosophy and then points to several emerging tensions, limits, and opportunities. +
Sociocracy is a governance system designed to guide collective and individual decision-making through shared power, non-coercive processes, and alignment with an organization’s purpose. Originating with Dutch engineer Gerard Endenburg and influenced by Quaker decision-making, pacifism, natural systems, and cybernetics, sociocracy’s core principle is that those doing the work should make the related decisions. Its structure relies on autonomous, interconnected “circles” that hold decision-making authority over specific domains, ensuring that the division of labor aligns with the division of governance. Practices such as double linking between circles and consent-based decision-making create a distributed, non-hierarchical system in which all voices are heard and power is balanced. +