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ABSTRACT
Globally there is a visible counter-trend to the destructive process of ‘development’ that the forces of capitalism, statism, patriarchy have imposed. Though still marginal and not yet able to make significant macro-level transformations, the resistance is growing. As is, often emerging from such resistance, there is a re-assertion of ways of life that respect, nature (including humans), co-existence, and justice. Such radical alternatives can be from ancient cultures, or be very new, but all have a core of ethical values that put life at the centre. One crucial barrier to these becoming a force for macro-level change is that they remain scattered, only sporadically learning from each other and becoming a greater critical mass. With this background, a Global Tapestry of Alternatives has been initiated in mid-2019, a kind of confluence of ideas and practices towards further collaboration and visioning. The idea has emerged from the Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence) process running since 2014 in India.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
* The Vikalp Sangam (‘Alternatives Confluence’) is a process carried out in India, bringing together initiatives on alternatives across the full range of human interests and arenas; see http://www.kalpavriksh.org/index.php/alternatives/alternatives-knowledge-center/353-vikalp-sangam-coverage and http://www.kalpavriksh.org/images/alternatives/VikalpSangamshandoutnoteOct2016.pdf.
1 For more on these and several other terms, concepts and movements referred to in this essay, please see Kothari et al. (Citation2019). This publication contains essays on 15-plus ‘mainstream solutions’ that do not challenge the status quo, and 90-plus ‘radical alternatives’ from around the world that do.
2 A framework of such transformation emerging from the Indian Vikalp Sangam process, containing five spheres of life and a set of ethical values, is available at http://www.vikalpsangam.org/about/the-search-for-alternatives-key-aspects-and-principles/; see also Demaria and Kothari (Citation2017).
3 See Kothari et al. (Citation2019). This publication contains essays on 15-plus ‘mainstream solutions’ that do not challenge the status quo, and 90-plus ‘radical alternatives’ from around the world that do.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ashish Kothari
Ashish Kothari, based in Pune, India has helped found or coordinate a number of organizations, movements, and processes, including Kalpavriksh, Vikalp Sangam, ICCA Consortium, ACKnowl-EJ, Radical Ecological Democracy, and the Global Tapestry of Alternatives. He is co-editor of Alternative Futures: India Unshackled, and Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary.