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Sharing/The Commons

Sharing/The Commons

If Gramdan is implemented, our land will be protected from any old or new land acquisition laws, says Devaji Tofa. Photo: Vikas Choudhary / CSE

Why this Maharashtra village is fighting for the long forgotten Gramdan Act?

2nd June 2023

Why does Mendha (Lekha) want to implement an age-old act that gives privately owned land in the collective legal ownership of the village at a time when the significance of individual property ownership has been rising? In a society that is moving towards hyper-individualism, the community in Mendha is taking a collective approach.

How Mr Miyawaki Broke My Heart

4th May 2023

What’s wrong with the popular Miyawaki method of ecological restoration?

P.V. Satheesh, the Original Millets Man of India

22nd March 2023

The founder of Deccan Development Society not only popularised millets but also worked for agro-biodiversity, food sovereignty, women’s empowerment, Dalit rights, social justice and local knowledge systems.

How Nepal Regenerated its Forests: Communities know their Forests Best

21st February 2023

After relinquishing control of forests to the villages that depend on them, forest cover in Nepal nearly doubled.

Charles Eisenstein: The Coronation

16th May 2020

For years, normality has been stretched nearly to breaking-point, a rope pulled tighter and tighter, waiting for a nip of the black swan’s beak to snap it in two. Now that it’s snapped, do we tie its ends back together, or shall we undo its dangling braids, to see what we might weave from them?…

Economy and ecology are now in conflict; it’s time to integrate them with wisdom

27th March 2020

“We have now reached a new tipping point where enmities are more expensive in all respects than friendly collaboration; where planetary limits of exploiting nature have been reached. It is high time for us to cross this new tipping point into our global communal maturity — to evolve an ecosophy.” says evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris….

Why “Corporate Social Responsibility” is a hoax

16th February 2020

Álvaro de Regil Castilla writes: Over the years, as I watched CSR evolve, it gradually became evident that it was really a hoax, for the simple reason that short-term maximization of profit is baked into the corporate DNA. Businesses thus cannot be socially responsible as long as the institutions of democracy remain captured by marketocracy….

55 ways to ‘starve the beast’

26th November 2019

Big Agri, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Food, Big Banking, Big Oil and Big Government aren’t there to make our lives better. They’re there to control us and make as much money as possible; and they’ll run you over if you’re in their way. Daisy Luther on how to fight back and starve the Beast….

Rojava: The radical eco-anarchist experiment betrayed by the West, and bludgeoned by Turkey

27th October 2019

Four million people, thousands of communes, a non-hierarchical social structure based on gender equality and a cooperative economy based on ecological principles. So why is the world silent when the greatest contemporary alternative political-economic experiment—achieved against impossible odds—is thrown under the bus? Here’s a closer look at Rojava as Turkey invades the Kurdish autonomous zone….

Helena Norberg-Hodge: The promise and pitfalls of localism

8th September 2019

The fact that the language of localism is being increasingly co-opted by authoritarians around the world is itself a sign of localism’s appeal. Left uprooted and adrift by the globalized economy, people are desperate for a sense of connection: to one another, to the living world, to a place and culture that’s familiar to them….

We have drought-proofed our cities, and left farms and farmers to die

1st July 2019

Devinder Sharma writes: This year, nearly 82% of Karnataka is reeling under drought. But in Bangalore, you won’t get even a hint of the terrible human suffering that continues to be inflicted year after year. Karnataka has suffered drought for 12 out of the past 18 years. But life in Bangalore has never been affected….

Elections 2019: People’s Manifesto for a Just, Equitable, and Sustainable India

5th April 2019

We commit, and ask all political parties, people’s movements, civil society organisations, and other relevant groups to commit to an India that is just, equitable, and sustainable for today’s and coming generations. The above commitment (and related steps) is urgently required in the context of the multiple crises we are facing today. (Courtesy Vikalp Sangam)…

Arturo Escobar: Farewell to Development

8th March 2019

Over the years, ‘development’ has undergone multiple modifications, such as sustainable development, participatory development, development with gender equity, integrated rural development, and so forth. All these approaches stay within the conventional understanding of development: they don’t constitute a radical departure from the prevailing paradigm. What we need to do is get rid of ‘development’ itself…

Representative pic

Wary of real estate boom, a Goa village revives farming after 30 years

24th September 2018

From The Indian Express: The residents of St. Estevam say they took to farming more due to fear of gated communities encroaching upon farmland. Nine months after the idea was mooted at the community level, this pilot project is now being tracked by the state government, which plans to take this experiment to every village….

How the Great Transition was made: A brief history dated 2050

5th August 2018

“The core issues would’ve gone on being ignored until the system broke down irretrievably. It should’ve been obvious that there had to be a shift to radical localism and simpler ways, but as long as rich world supermarket shelves remained well-stocked no one would take calls for downshifting seriously.” A futuristic vision from Ted Trainer….

Economy of Permanence: The enduring legacy of J.C. Kumarappa

26th June 2018

J.C. Kumarappa was a stalwart of India’s freedom movement, Gandhian economic philosopher, pioneer in the development of village and cottage industries and advocate of a decentralised, localised economy of permanence and freedom. Yet, he remains practically unknown to the present generation of Indians. A tribute to Kumarappa by Pranjali Bandhu, editor of his collected writings….

The ZAD will survive: Dispatches from Europe’s largest ‘liberated territory’

25th April 2018

It was supposed to be the site of western France’s biggest airport, but instead, it became the center of a utopian experiment. Hundreds of squatters –eco-warriors to some, green jihadis to others– now live in the ZAD, which resisted a eviction operation after a 2,500 strong police unit recently forced their way into the camp….

Announcing the ‘Atlas of Utopias’

30th March 2018

From Transformative Cities: The Atlas of Utopias is a global gallery of inspiring community led transformation in water, energy and housing. The atlas features 32 communities from 19 countries who responded to the Transformative Cities initiative which seeks to learn from cities working on radical solutions to our world’s systemic economic, social and ecological crises….

Seven lessons on starting a worldwide movement for change

22nd February 2018

“There was no name for what we were proposing. It was bold, imaginative, and beyond what most folks thought of as environmentalism. It wasn’t environmentalism, it was much more than that.” A blog by Naresh Giangrande Co-founder of Totnes, the world’s first Transition-Town, as he signs off after a ten-year adventure in global social change….

Bookshelf: Alternative Futures: India Unshackled

13th February 2018

A remarkable, first-ever collection of essays on India’s future, by a diverse set of authors – activists, researchers, media practitioners – those who have influenced policies and those working at the grassroots. It presents scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, ecologically sustainable and economically equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious….