{"id":4252,"date":"2016-12-26T12:52:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T11:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/2016\/12\/26\/o-demokracii-zeme-o-zivych-ekonomikach-a-zivych-kulturach\/"},"modified":"2021-01-25T21:34:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T20:34:16","slug":"o-demokracii-zeme-o-zivych-ekonomikach-a-zivych-kulturach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/o-demokracii-zeme-o-zivych-ekonomikach-a-zivych-kulturach\/","title":{"rendered":"Vandana Shiva: On Earth's Democracy \u2013 On Living Economies and Living Cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vandana Shiva (born 1952), originally a physicist, is an environmentalist, activist, feminist, and author of many books. She is one of the leading figures in the movement for global solidarity and justice and a leading figure in the International Forum on Globalization. In India, she founded the Navdanya movement for the protection of biodiversity and farmers' rights. She is the director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology and a member of the International Organization for Participatory Society. In 2003, Time magazine awarded her the \u201cenvironmental hero\u201d award. This text is an excerpt from the author\u2019s book Democracy of the Earth \u2013 Justice, Sustainability, and Peace (Brokem Books, Olomouc 2016, p. 16 et seq.).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are not Atlas, carrying the world on your shoulders.
It's good to remember that the planet carries you."<\/p>Vandana SHIVA<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife will not be a pyramid with a base supporting the top. Rather, it will be an oceanic vortex, at the center of which is the individual who disappears into the vortex of the village, the village further disappears into the vortex of other villages, until the whole becomes one life composed of all the individuals who are never aggressive or arrogant, but always humble and share the majesty of the oceanic vortex of which they are an integral part. Thus the outermost circle will not threaten with force to destroy the inner circle, but will give strength to all within and from them will derive its own strength.\u201d<\/p>MAHATMA GANDHI<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Activities such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), fair trade, and solidarity economies are part of a broader alternative movement for global justice that opposes corporate liberal globalization; they are part of what Vandana Shiva calls an Earth democracy, which is based on living economies and living cultures. In her book, Earth Democracy, Vandana Shiva states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEarth Democracy is both an ancient worldview and an urgent political movement for peace, justice, and sustainability. Earth Democracy is grounded in diversity, connecting the particular with the universal, the local with the global. It encompasses what we in India see as the vasudhaiva kutumbkam (earth family)\u2014the community of all creatures for whom the earth is the support. \u2026 Chief Seetle of the Suquamish tribe is said to have given a speech in 1848 describing this interconnectedness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the earth? Such an idea is foreign to us. We do not own the fresh air and sparkling water, so how can you buy it? Every part of this land is sacred to my people. \u2026 We know one thing: the land does not belong to man; man belongs to the land. We know that very well. Everything is connected like the blood that unites our family. Everything is connected.\u201d (\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earth Democracy is an awareness of this interconnectedness and responsibility and the rights that come with it. Chief Seattle\u2019s protest that \u201cthe earth does not belong to man\u201d resonates around the world. \u201cOur world is not for sale,\u201d \u201cOur water is not for sale,\u201d \u201cOur biodiversity is not for sale.\u201d Earth Democracy was born in response to the privatization-fueled mad ideology known as corporate globalization. Corporate globalization sees the world as something to be owned, and the market is driven solely by profits. Globalization\u2019s transformation of all creatures and resources into commodities robs all species and people of their rightful share of ecological, cultural, economic, and political space. (\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against the perception of the planet as private property, these movements advocate, at both local and global levels, for an understanding of the planet as a public space. In contrast to the perception of the world as a global supermarket, where goods and services are produced at high ecological, social and economic costs and sold at shockingly low prices, cultures and communities everywhere want to prevent the destruction of the biological and cultural diversity of their lives and their existential security. As an alternative to a suicidal and globalized economy, which is based on the plundering and pollution of the Earth's vital resources and which leads to the displacement of millions of farmers, artisans and workers from their territories, these communities advocate and develop vibrant self-organizing economies that protect life on earth and support creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These living economies are individually small, but collectively they are enormous. Living economies restore ecological processes while reviving human creativity, solidarity and interconnectedness. Viable living economies are people-centred, decentralised, sustainable and generate livelihoods. They are based on co-ownership and co-production, on sharing and participation. Living economies are not mere concepts; they exist and are emerging in our time. They are shaped by ordinary people in their everyday lives; they are based on the resilient, vibrant and renewable economy of nature and on the rich, diverse and sustainable management of people. Living economies respect the limits of natural resources and share these resources to ensure that the needs of all are met. Therefore, biodiversity and water must remain public (commons) goods and therefore the protection of these public goods (commons) is the basis of many movements belonging to the Earth Democracy grouping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are redefining democracy in terms of everyday decision-making. They are redefining nations in terms of people, not in terms of a centralized state. This trend toward localization actually came about at the same time as globalization. If globalization is a corporate-driven agenda for corporate control, localization is a counter-agenda of people for environmental protection, survival, and livelihood. In the absence of regulation by national governments, people have their own ecological and democratic backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A living democracy is based on the vibrant diversity of cultures and communities, but also on the idea that we are all part of one humanity and share commonalities with all creatures and life forms. It is both local and global, transcending the exclusionary logic of either-or and evolving through the non-duality and indivisibility of relationships. Relationships create space for people to respond to each other. This brings responsibility and builds the foundation for sharing and empathy. Relationships exist because we all belong to the Earth family and, by sharing one biosphere and life on one Earth and one planetary system, we are all in relationships. This is our most fundamental identity. It is shaped both by the specific place on Earth where we live our daily lives and by the planetary awareness that we are members of one Earth family, one humanity.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vandana Shiva (born 1952), originally a physicist, is an environmentalist, activist, feminist, and author of many books. She is a leading figure in the global solidarity and justice movement and a leading figure in the International Forum on Globalization. In India, she founded the Navdanya movement for the protection of biodiversity and farmers' rights. She is the director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology and a member of the International Organization\u2026 Continue reading Vandana Shiva: On Earth's Democracy \u2013 On Living Economies and Living Cultures<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[48,52],"class_list":["post-4252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-texty","tag-demokracie","tag-vandana-shiva","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4252"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7164,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4252\/revisions\/7164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potulnauniverzita.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}