POSTPONED! ZEF Online Colloquium/Lecture on Radical Ecological Democracy – A framework for addressing conflict in development

December 3, 2020 | 13:30 h - 14:30 h

ZEF Online Colloquium / Lecture

This Thursday, December 3, from 1.30 to 2.30 pm we will welcome Pallav Das, who works closely with grass-root organizations and academics around the world and will present a highly interesting perspective on development: 

Radical Ecological Democracy – A framework for addressing conflict in development

Presenter:

Pallav Das (Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group), has pursued a twin-track career in environmental conservation and creative communications. He has designed and launched innovative campaigns, and founded and led private and non-profit organizations, including Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group, India. Pallav has documented some of India’s most pressing development challenges through his film work, including films on violence against women and the threat of HIV/AIDS among street children. Pallav also edits the Radical Ecological Democracy website, an Internet platform exploring “alternatives” to the contemporary neoliberal socio-economic and political order.

Abstract:

If development promotes progress, positive change and a rise in the level and quality of life of people, why does it so often lead to conflict within and between societies, as has been the experience in the post-war period all over the developing world? One clear reason, in fact quite self-evident, is the very nature of the neoliberal order predicated as it is upon the ferocious quest for natural resources and territories in a progressively diminishing pool in our finite world. While this competition is regarded as an engine for capitalist efficiency, it invariably devolves into raging conflicts as evident in international conflagrations in all corners of the planet, and protest movements, violent state reprisals and even civil wars, within many countries.

How does the world figure out a way out of this chaotic mess? Explorations are taking place all over the world. “Radical Ecological Democracy” is one such socio-political and economic framework, which has emerged from the grassroots experience of communities and civil society practicing or conceiving of alternatives across a range of human endeavors in India, but has resonance in all other regions of the world. It 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, “Radical Ecological Democracy” puts collectives and communities at the center of governance and the economy, an approach that is grounded in real-life initiatives across the world. The talk by Pallav Das will explain how using the fundamentals of Radical Ecological Democracy we can construct a framework to address conflict inherent within the process of neoliberal development.

Keywords:

Development --Conflict --Alternatives --Ecological Democracy --Decentralization

Receive Details on Zoom connection by sending an E-mail to: presse.zef(at)uni-bonn.de