Abstract
Might the theory and practice of liberal representative democracy need to be rethought in and for the ‘Anthropocene’? What resources are available when trying to orientate oneself in radical political space today? In this paper, the authors draw on varieties of anarchism and Marxism to develop a new, ecocentric political sensibility and practice, which they call ‘wild democracy’. Calling for a ‘biodiversity of resistance and renewal’, this signifies an eco-egalitarian politics that privileges grassroots participation over parliamentary representation, with the aim of transcending capitalism and initiating a degrowth process of planned economic contraction. Focusing attention beyond the ballot box, this analysis attempts to rethink the meaning of political participation in an age of ecological crisis and deepen the understanding of what it means to be an ecological citizen today.
Highlights
Might the theory and practice of liberal representative democracy need to be rethought in and for the ‘Anthropocene’? What resources are available when trying to orientate oneself in radical political space today? In this paper, the authors draw on varieties of anarchism and Marxism to develop a new, ecocentric political sensibility and practice, Samuel Alexander and Peter Burdon which they call ‘wild democracy’
Why do tired parliamentary distinctions of left and right. This is an attempt to rethink the meaning of political participation in an age of ecological crisis and deepen the understanding of what it means to be an Anarchism; eco-anarchism; eco-socialism; Marxism; societal change we need to reinvent it? in the wake ecological citizen
Let us acknowledge, first, that voting itself is not much of a burden. It typically takes less than an hour, once every three or four years, so we propose that even radicals who have lost faith in representative democracy should still vote as strategically as possible and to take that act as the ‘starting gun’ of political participation, not the finish line
Summary
Samuel Alexander and Peter Burdon Wild democracy: a biodiversity of resistance and renewal The Ecological Citizen, 2017; 1(1): The copyright of the content belongs to the authors, artists and photographers, unless otherwise stated. (If authors, artists or photographers wish for some alternative arrangement to be put in place for their piece [e.g. assigning a Creative Commons licence to it], they can request this at the time of submission.) The Journal reserves the right for all content to appear on its website in readable and printable format indefinitely, and the right for all published writing to be translated into other languages for further distribution. There is no limit on printing or distribution of PDFs downloaded from the website. There is no limit on printing or distribution of PDFs downloaded from the website. http://www.ecologicalcitizen.net/article.php?t=wild-democracy-biodiversity-resistance-renewal
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