Concepts:Radical Ecological Democracy/Ashish Kothari

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.

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Ashish Kothari

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"Eco-swaraj or RED is an evolving world view, not a blueprint set in stone. In its very process of democratic grassroots evolution, it forms an alternative to top-down ideologies and formulations, even as it takes on board the relevant elements of such ideologies"

Concepts:Radical Ecological Democracy

Introduction

In the midst of the socio-economic inequities and ecological collapse we see around the world, there are a growing number of initiatives practicing or conceptualizing ways of achieving human well-being that are just and sustainable. Some of these are assertions of continuing lifestyles and livelihoods that have lived in relative harmony with the earth for millennia or centuries, others are new initiatives emerging from resistance movements or encounters with the destructive nature of currently dominant economic and political systems. While incredibly diverse in their settings and processes, many of these initiatives and approaches exhibit some common features that enable the emergence of broad frameworks or paradigms. One such framework that has emerged from grassroots experience in India, but has global resonance, is Radical Ecological Democracy (RED), locally also called eco-swaraj. This is an approach that respects the limits of the Earth and the rights of other species, while pursuing the core values of social justice and equity. With its strong democratic and egalitarian impulse, it seeks to empower every person to be a part of decision-making, and its holistic vision of human well-being encompasses physical, material, socio-cultural, intellectual and spiritual dimensions. Rather than the state and the corporation, swaraj puts collectives and communities at the centre of governance and the economy. It is grounded in real-life initiatives across the Indian subcontinent, encompassing sustainable farming, fisheries and pastoralism, food and water sovereignty, decentralized energy production, direct local governance, community health, alternative learning and education, community-controlled media and communications, localization of economies, gender and caste justice, rights of differently abled and multiple sexualities, and many others. Radical Ecological Democracy encompasses the following five interlocking spheres: Ecological wisdom and resilience, including the conservation and regenerative capacity of the rest of nature (ecosystems, species, functions, and cycles) and its complexity, building on the belief that humans are part of nature, and that the rest of nature has an intrinsic right to thrive. Social well-being and justice, including lives that are fulfilling and satisfactory physically, socially, culturally, and spiritually; where there is equity in socio-economic and political entitlements, benefits, rights and responsibilities across gender, class, caste, age, ethnicities, ‘able’ities, sexualities, and other current divisions; where there is a balance between collective interests and individual freedoms; and where peace and harmony are ensured. Direct or radical political democracy, where decision-making power originates in the smallest unit of human settlement (rural or urban), in which every human has the right, capacity and opportunity to take part; building outwards from these basic units to larger levels of governance that are downwardly accountable; where political decision-making takes place respecting ecological and cultural linkages and boundaries (and therefore challenging current political boundaries including those of nation-states); and where the role of the state eventually becomes minimal, for functions such as connecting across larger landscapes, and whatever welfare measures may still be necessary. Economic democracy, in which local communities including producers and consumers, often combined in one as prosumers, have control over the means of production, distribution, exchange, and markets; where localization is a key principle providing for all basic needs through the local regional economy; larger trade and exchange, as necessary, is built on and safeguards this local self-reliance; nature, natural resources, and other important elements feeding into the economy are governed as the commons; private property is minimized or disappears; where non-monetized relations of caring and sharing regain their central importance; and indicators are predominantly qualitative, focusing on basic needs and well-being. Cultural and knowledge plurality, in which diversity is a key principle; knowledge including its generation, use and transmission, is in the public domain or commons; innovation is democratically generated and there are no ivory towers of ‘expertise’; learning takes place as part of life and living rather than only in specialized institutions; and, individual or collective pathways of ethical and spiritual well-being and of happiness are available to all. Seen as a set of petals in a flower, the core or bud where they all intersect forms the following set of values or principles, which too emerges as a crucial part of the alternative initiatives. These can also be seen as the ethical or spiritual foundation of societies, the worldview(s) that its members hold. Ecological integrity and the rights of nature Equity, justice and inclusion Right to and responsibility of meaningful participation Diversity and pluralism Collective commons and solidarity with individual freedoms Resilience and adaptability Subsidiarity, self-reliance and ecoregionalism Simplicity and sufficiency (or the notion of ‘enoughness’) Dignity and creativity of labour and work Non-violence, harmony, and peace The broad components and values of eco-swaraj have been under discussion across India through an ongoing process called Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence). This process brings together a diverse set of actors from communities, civil society, and various professions who are involved in alternative initiatives across all sectors. A series of regional and thematic confluences that began in 2014, enable participants to share experiences, learn from each other, build alliances and collaboration and jointly envision a better future. Documentation of alternative initiatives in the form of stories, videos, case studies and other forms provides a further means of disseminating learnings, and spreading inspiration for further transformation, through a dedicated website www.vikalpsangam.org, a mobile exhibition and other means. Beyond India, this approach is also linking up to radical alternatives in other parts of the world. In 2012, several civil society organizations and movements signed onto a Peoples’ Sustainability Treaty on Radical Ecological Democracy; subsequently a discussion list has kept alive the dialogue, and opportunities have been found for mutual learning with approaches such as degrowth, ecofeminism, cooperative societies, and social/solidarity economy in Europe, buen vivir and its other equivalents in Latin America, and others. And in 2019, after 2-3 years of discussion with relevant regional and global movements and networks, the Global Tapestry of Alternatives (GTA) was launched with the objective of bringing radical alternatives on a common platform for cross-cultural dialogue and exchange, collective action, joint visioning of a more just world, and supporting ground-level actions. Radical democracy in general, with a core of ecological principles, is one of the major issues that GTA works on. Eco-swaraj or RED is an evolving world view, not a blueprint set in stone. In its very process of democratic grassroots evolution, it forms an alternative to top-down ideologies and formulations, even as it takes on board the relevant elements of such ideologies. This is the basis of its transformative potential. Eco-swaraj in praxis Several Indigenous peoples and other local communities, both rural and urban, in India and elsewhere, are attempting to put eco-swaraj or RED into practice. They of course do not necessarily use these terms, but the principles they organize around are essentially similar. In central India, 90 villages in the Adivasi (Indigenous) area of Maharashtra have claimed collective control over their forests and other landscapes, asserted that for decisions relating to their territories will be taken by or through their village assemblies (and a federation of 90 such assemblies), and are struggling to sustain their cultural and historical identity. The Kurdish Rojava movement in central Asia and the Zapatista movement in Mexico, both towards radical self-determination and autonomy, while respecting the earth and nature, and struggling for gender equity and other forms of social justice, can also be thought of as examples of RED. In Burma-Myanmar, the Salween Peace Park is one of several initiatives by its Karen Indigenous people to retain territorial self-determination and through this achieve peace as resistance to the country’s militarization. For centuries, the Amadiba people of the Wild Coast of South Africa have fiercely resisted imposition from kings and the former apartheid regime, and now held at bay the national government’s attempts to bring in mining, shell and gas exploration, and other ‘development’ projects. All their land is held in common, which they (and many other movements of this kind) consider a crucial component of a radical democracy that is ecologically wise. Over 20 such initiatives at sustaining or creating new forms of eco-swaraj (stressing again, that they do not call it by such a name) gathered in February 2025 in South Africa, to share their experiences, create a narrative of what they consider real democracy, and build collaborations. Organised by the Global Tapestry of Alternatives, the Amadiba Crisis Committee, WoMin, Academy of Democratic Modernity, and Jineoloji Academy, this confluence is the first of several gatherings and dialogues towards a possible global alliance on radical democracy and autonomy.

Further Resources Kothari, Ashish. 2026. ‘In search of alternatives to development: Learning from grounded initiatives’, in Ramcilovic-Suominen, S. (ed), Socioecological Transformations: Linking Ontologies with Structures, Personal with Collective Change’, Routledge, Oxon. Kothari, Ashish, Salleh, Ariel, Escobar, Arturo, Demaria, Federico, and Acosta, Alberto (eds). 2019. Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary, Tulika and Authors Upfront, Delhi. Morrison, Roy. 1995. Ecological Democracy. South End Press, Boston, USA. Shrivastava, Aseem. 2019. ‘Prakritik Swaraj’, in Kothari et al, op. cit. Shrivastava, Aseem and Ashish Kothari. 2012. Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India. New Delhi: Viking/Penguin India. Zografos, Christos. 2019. ‘Direct democracy’, in Kothari et al, op. cit. Websites https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org www.vikalpsangam.org Videos Eco-swaraj: Pluriversal Pathways out of Global Crises, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqSqvlPs-xU

Ashish Kothari is the founder of Indian environmental group Kalpavriksh. He helps coordinate Vikalp Sangam in India and the Global Tapestry of Alternatives. Co-author, Churning the Earth; and co-editor, Alternative Futures and Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary.