The world is going through unprecedented crises, including ecological collapse, climate change, growing inequality, war and conflict. There is an urgent search for ways to resolve these crises. Meanwhile, areas and groups that have so far been ‘safe’ from these crises, such as Adivasis or island areas in India, are now being opened up to forms of ‘development’ that may bring the crises to them within the next few years.
How can development and ecological concerns be reconciled? There is much talk about sustainability, but how can it be achieved? How do ecological sustainability and socio-economic issues like inequality and conflicts, relate to each other? What kind of political systems can help resolve these crises? Are there already ‘alternative’ pathways available to meet human needs and aspirations while
protecting the earth’s essential ecological functions? Can human rights and the rights of nature be reconciled? This lecture will seek to explore the above issues, and the question of how youth can contribute in the search for sustainability and justice.
About the speaker
Ashish Kothari is a co-founder of Kalpavriksh, an Indian environmental NGO. He coordinates Kalpavriksh’s programme on Alternatives. He is the author and editor of over 30 books (including Churning the Earth: Making of Global India; Alternative Futures: India Unshackled; and Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary), and over 400 articles.
