Democratic Movement Research Articles

Громадянське суспільство в добу кризи режиму "нормалізації" та генезису євроатлантичного курсу Чехословаччини

The article is devoted to the history of Czechoslovak civil society and its important component – dissidents. The process of the independent initiatives and structures wide spectrum creation, which were in opposition to the regime of “normalization” is considered, as well as their influence on the process of democratic transit and determination of the integration course. Typology and program’s directions of this structure and the causes of polyvariance and controversiality in points of view are analyzed. The article draws special attention to the replacement of the paradigm of opposition work – the transition from political activity to the conception of «antipolitical policy». The level of the main components of the democratic movement influence, «Charter-77» on the social and political process during the researched period is determined. One of its consequences was the emergence of protostructures of the «parallel society». In Czechoslovakia the «parallel society» operated under the strong influence of state structures. It was forced to distance itself from political issues. Nevertheless, the structures of the «parallel society» and its «nonpolitical policy» turned out to provide a significant system of ideas and organizational initiatives. It was capable of transforming the society, which was stagnant in the final years of the policy of «normalization». It also promoted the future emergence of democratic structures. On the basis of the political and legal experience in Czechoslovakia is proved the interdependence of civil society and democratic processes activity. The author emphasizes that the transition into a full European Union and NATO members was the result of a long, difficult and controversial process of «European Come Back». This process started after the Velvet Revolution victory and allowed the leadership of the countries with the support of the «third sector» to manage a number of problems in the social-political and military-technical spheres. The participation principles of civil society and its organizations in public life, in the decision-making process at the state level, and reasons for the decline of activism in the political culture of the population are considered.

NOSTALGIA, EXPULSION AND THE POETIC I: THE POETICS OF DIASPORA IN THE CORPUS THEOGNIDEUM

In the anthology of archaic elegiac poetry called the Corpus Theognideum, the poetic I often eludes traditional approaches to the ‘poetic authority’. Instead of presenting itself as a citizen of a particular ‘city-state’ or at least a prominent member of an elitist circle who came to have a position of authority, the persona loquens situates himself as removed from the community: as impoverished, expelled from his polis, despised, embittered and thirsting for revenge. The purpose of my paper is to consider how the tension between the alienation of the poetic I and the unity of the audience might function during the act of (re)performance. Applying considerations of Edward W Said on ‘diasporic temporality’ to the political and economic conflict between the ideologies of polis and anti-polis in archaic and classical Greece, I show that the poetic I in the Theognidean tradition, by presenting itself as an exile and a victim of the democratic movement, expresses the temporally distant position of the so far privileged aristocracy, situated in dialectical opposition to the democratic institutions of polis.

ЮЛИЙ МАРТОВ И ЕГО ВРЕМЯ [Рец. на кн.: Литвин А.Л., Урилов И.Х. Юлий Мартов. История жизни и деятельности. 1873–1923. – М.: Собрание, 2021

This review focuses on the problematics, structure, and key points of A.L. Litvin and I.Kh. Urilov’s major monograph on the history of the life and work of Julius Osipovich Martov (1873–1923), the prominent Russian revolutionary and the leader of the Mensheviks. It reads as a historical biography in the context of the political events that occurred in Russia during the early 20th century. Of special interest is the specific approach employed by the authors: in order to build a psychological portrait of the main character, they refer to a variety of diverse sources, emphasize the pivotal moments in his life, and hunt for the driving force behind his actions. The analysis of Ju. Martov’s fate lifts the curtain on the history of the social democratic movement in Russia as a choice made between an authoritarian and democratic model of political order. The authors reflect on the importance of adhering to moral principles in politics. The monograph is highly relevant and useful for reconstructing the development of socialist ideas and their influence on the world order.

Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis

The prosopographic portraits of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania, restored in 1990 and 1991, are revealed. The research is based on general scientific and special historical methods, among which the comparative method and the method of prosopography occupy a special place. The first part of the article is dedicated to the leaders of those sociopolitical organizations that formed the core of the opposition movement against the dictatorship of the Communist Party - Vytautas Landsbergis, Vyacheslav Chornovol and Levko Lukyanenko. Thanks to the appropriate methodological tools, it was possible to reveal the common and distinctive features of leaders in both countries: national-democratic bias, duration of dissident activity, belonging to one or another social stratum, participation in political activities, personal contribution to the development of the country's independence, etc. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the leader of the national-democratic forces of Lithuania V. Landsbergis was the highest political figure of the Restorative Seimas for almost three years (1990-1992), while the leaders of the Ukrainian democratic movement were given mediocre roles in the shadow of the communists. Which at that time dominated the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The second part of the study paints a prosopographic portrait of the first presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania. Ukraine is considered number one here because the institution of the presidency was founded on its territory in 1991, and in Lithuania in 1993. Despite the fact that the presidency of Leonid Kravchuk and Algirdas Brazauskas is considered taking into account the time factor, it depicts significant differences in the strategies of the state behavior of these two natives of the same communist system, who were almost the same age. In particular, this concerns the issue of distancing from the Russian Federation and the country's geopolitical choice of joining the European Union and NATO. Thus, in conclusion, we see that the path to independence in both countries was paved by national-democratic movements led by the intelligentsia. However, not everyone achieved the final result of the activity. We also notice that both in Ukraine and in Lithuania, former Communist Party members became the first presidents.

The Failure of the Democracy Movement in Hong Kong: 1984–2020

The Failure of the Democracy Movement in Hong Kong: 1984–2020

The Strategy of Energy Democracy and Sustainable Development: Policymakers and Instruments

Energy democracy policymakers pay attention to planning to the formation of energy markets and exchanges of energy regions, diversification of energy resources, especially renewable resources, and global challenges due to greenhouse gas emissions. Over the introduction of concepts related to sustainable development, energy planning at the international level finds its place and goals in the direction of sustainable development, i.e., economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions. Energy democracy designs equations of great powers over energy with the aims of Resist, Reclaim, Restructure. This research focuses on free governments and energy democracy and the integration of priorities and methods to improve energy policy and analysis. No one policy instrument in isolation significantly impacts the energy democracy agenda. instead, all policies are essential for increasing this aim. They created new policy tools, supporting efforts to end fossil fuel dependence and connecting them to renewable energy. This research provides a starting point for improving the visibility of the energy democracy movement and constructing appropriate policies for different renewable energy transition options.

Eine handlungsfähigere EU für eine sicherere (östliche) Nachbarschaft – die EU-Belarus-Beziehungen

Since the fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus in August 2020, the country has been in the midpoint of a geopolitical stand-off. Unprecedented violence against peaceful protesters, economic and political sanctions against the regime in Minsk and an orchestrated migration crisis at the European Union’s (EU) external borders have shaped EU-Belarus relations in recent months. In the wake of the crises, the EU stepped up its measures against the Lukashenko regime to be more resilient to hybrid attacks by an authoritarian system and to support the Belarusian democracy movement. The contributions fundament is based on the EU’s Global Strategy, which underpins and provides a framework for the EU-Belarus relations. Furthermore, the article discusses whether the objectives of the strategy have been achieved and if the EU as an international actor can generate security in their Eastern Neighbourhood.

Value of the Cooperation to Vitalize the Commemorative Event of 5‧18 Democratization Movement and Buma Pro-democratic Resistance Movement

Since the May 18 Democratization Movement and the Buma Democratic Uprising were designated as national anniversaries due to resistance to the industrialization dictatorship of the military regime at the same time, it will be possible to cooperate in the planning and progress of major programs of their commemoration events. However, the actual situation is not so, and even related academic studies do not point this aspect out. This study examines the value of cooperation to revitalize the May 18 Democratization Movement and the commemorative event of the Buma Uprising. To this end, Chapter 2 analyzes the laws and ordinances related to the commemorative events of the two protests, examines the legal basis for cooperation and the programs actually held. Chapter 3 analyzes previous studies on the May 18 commemorative events and the meaning of the Buma uprising, and Chapter 4 discusses the value of cooperation while emphasizing cooperation to revitalize the two major uprising commemorative events nationwide. As a result, it was found that the spirit of nationality, democracy, and human rights is the value of cooperation to nationalize the commemorative event in accordance with the laws and regulations related to the two protests. In addition, this research emphasizes the need to coordinate the overall totality of the democratization movement and the individual locality of the hometown even when cooperating in the operation of the two protest commemorative events. Finally, this study invites a methodology that can effectively inherit the ideology of democracy by illuminating the current meaning of the democratization movement commemorative event.

Ideology, Politics and Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Headline about Pakistan Democratic Movement

Ideology, Politics and Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Headline about Pakistan Democratic Movement

The change of perception of the February 28 Democratic Movement and the succession of the April 19 Revolution of the February 28 Movement

2･28민주운동의 발생은 1950년대 후반 선거를 통해 시민들의 반정부 의식이 표면화되고, 대구의 민주적 노동운동과 무관하지 않다. 1960년 2월 28일 대구지역 고등학생들의 가두시위는 20세기 한국 현대사의 흐름을 바꾼 역사적 전환기의 사건이었다. 2･28민주운동은 정부와 자유당에 의해 빨갱이 사주론과 민주당 배후설로 그 의미가 왜곡되었으나 학생들의 자발적 운동이었음이 밝혀졌다. 또 학생 시위가 3･1절로 확대되지 않길 바라는 사회의 인식이 있었으나 2･28민주운동은 대전, 부산, 서울 등 전국으로 파급되었다. 결국, 2･28민주운동은 3･15민주의거를 거쳐 4･19혁명으로까지 이어졌다. 2･28의 역사적 성격에 대한 학생들과 사회의 인식은 2･28학생의거로 규정되었다. 하지만 2･28 40주년을 맞아 2･28 민주의거로 규정되다가 2･28민주운동으로 인식되고 규정되었다. 2･28민주운동은 4･19혁명 시기에 고등학생들이 참여하는 다양한 형태의 교육운동･사회운동･정치운동으로 확대되어 한국 교육계와 민주･민족운동으로 계승되었다. 먼저, 학생들은 학교 현장에서 학도호국단 폐지를 통한 자치 학생회로의 전환, 어용 교사 축출과 부패재단 정화 운동, 교원노동조합 지지 등을 통한 학원 민주화운동을 전개하였다. 둘째, 학생들은 4대 국회 해산을 통한 ‘선개헌 후선거’를 주장하고, 반혁명인사규탄대회를 통한 반민주세력과 부 패 세력 반대운동을 전개하면서 정치개혁 운동을 전개하였다. 셋째, 학생들은 4･19혁명 시기 한국군 및 미군 사용의 교사를 반환받고자 하는 활동, 한미경제협정을 반대하고 한미행정협동의 체결을 주장하는 자주화 운동을 전개하였다. 넷째, 학생들은 1961년 2월 2･28 1주년 기념대회를 통해 장면 정권의 정치 운영에 대한 반대 인식을 명확히 표명하고, 자주･민주･통일의 학생운동 방침을 확인하였다. 다섯째, 학생들은 4･19혁명 시기 반공특별법과 데모규제법의 반대를 주장하며 각종 반대 시위를 펼치며 민주운동을 전개하였다. 여섯째, 학생들은 한국 사회의 민족모순이었던 분단구조를 해결하기 위한 통일운동을 전개하며, 학생 스스로 ‘반공적 인식’을 극복하며, 한반도의 평화 정착에 노력을 기울였다. 2･28은 학생의거에서 민주운동으로 인식이 크게 변화된 것은 확인되었다. 그것은 사회의 2･28에 대한 인식변화와도 연관되는 것이었지만, 중요한 것은 2･28의 주체들이 현실 사회에서 2･28의 사회적 역할에 대해 고민하는 과정에서 생긴 인식변화였다. 또한 학생들은 1960년 전반기 한국 사회의 격변 속에서 학생운동의 범위와 대상을 교육 현장인 학교를 포함해 한국사회 전반으로 확대했다는 점에 주목할 필요가 있다. 그 과정에서 학원민주화운동을 통한 교육개혁 운동, 정치개혁을 통한 민주운동, 남북문제의 극복을 위한 통일운동 등 한국 현대사회의 전반적 개혁과 혁신을 이루었다. 이로써 2･28민주운동은 1950년대 한국사회의 모순을 극복하고, 1960년대 민주･민족운동의 서막을 연 전환기적 학생운동이었다.

US Researchers' Discourse and Reinterpretation of International Relation Theory on the 5‧18 Democratization Movement

This essay reinterprets the United States Government s role and responsibility of 5·18 democratization movement on the basis of academic products and presents new topics and research methods. For this, I study and analyze the preceding materials such as books and articles about the relationship between 5·18 and the United States. And then, I analyze the attitude of the US Government toward the New Korean Military Force of 1980s from the angel of international relations. Through the analysis of the reference, the Government and Americans have different ideas about the condition there. This research of the relationship between the the Korean and US Government up to the date around the sensational events like 5·18 democratization movement is expected to illuminate the American pragmatic and realist policy rather than the democratic justice, which might be understandable on the condition of reciprocal interaction.

THE HISTORY OF THE CREATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENT "NEVADA-SEMIPALATINSK": Dedicated to the 30th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The article examines the real history of social activity of the population of Kazakhstan during the period of political change of power in the USSR on the example of the first non-governmental democratic movement that stirred up the world community. The authors talk about the reasons for the creation of the International Anti-Nuclear Movement (MAD) "Nevada-Semipalatinsk", which they witness. The article presents historical facts and analysis of the events that eventually led to a global moratorium on conducting nuclear tests on a planetary scale. The calendar of the described events covers the period from 1949 to the present day. The role of the leader and activists of the Movement in the processes of anti-nuclear world politics during the years of the end of the Cold War, which resulted in the adoption of a planetary moratorium on nuclear tests, is shown. The authors assess the social significance of the plans of the future work of the MАD in the field of youth policy of Kazakhstan, environmental initiatives and health-saving proposals for the people.

Underground Press of Social Democratic Organizations in Šiauliai in 1904–1914

This article deals with propaganda activities, such as publishing proclamations (20 publications), revolutionary songs (1), and underground periodicals (1), by local organizations of the Bund, LSDDP, LSDP and RSDDP in Šiauliai in 1904–1914. Political changes in Russia in 1904–1907 created favorable conditions for social democratic organizations to actively carry out propaganda activities, but the intensity at which they were carried out was not uniform across Lithuania. The proletarian profile of Šiauliai and the particularly active activity of the LSDP allowed to mobilize propagandists in a short time, to prepare the necessary proclamations on the spot, and to provide the necessary press equipment. During the years of the revolution (1905–1907), Šiauliai had to emerge as the second center of the social democratic movement in Lithuania. After the defeat of the revolution in Russia, due to the increased persecution of social democratic forces, the underground organizations failed to mobilize their press capacity or develop more active propaganda events; therefore, the political parties even had to suspend the activities of local organizations in Šiauliai. The integration of social democratic youth into the social democratic organizations of Šiauliai took place in c. 1912 and gave hope for a stronger revival of propaganda. The resumption of activities ceased in the first years of the First World War. The large-scale underground press developed in underground conditions expressed the expectations of the local population, reflected the involvement of parties in the formation of political views of the urban population, and was a counterweight to official information. Therefore, its assessment is inseparable from the realities of the political context of that time.

The Revolution is Over, Forget It: To the 30th Anniversary of the Russian Federation

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the power in post-Soviet Russia was seized by the leaders of the democratic movement - first wave democrats, and the more progressive Soviet nomenclature. As a result of the miscalculations made by the leaders of the democratic movement, the representatives of the Soviet nomenclature soon started displacing the first wave democrats and the reformers of the Gaidar call from the Russian governmental bodies in order to gain full control over the governance in the country. This appeared to be a manifestation of the more general and fundamental process, where the Russian nomenclature separated from the democratic movement, emerging as a new ruling stratum - the immediate heir to the Soviet nomenclature. The turning point, which accelerated the separation and the retreat of the Russian nomenclature from liberal and democratic principles of the countrys modernization, was the beginning of the Chechen tragedy in 1994. Not only did the Chechen events separate the Russian nomenclature and the democratic movement but also split the democratic movement itself. The goal of the article is to examine the transformation of the relationship between the democratic movement and the soviet and, later on, Russian nomenclature during the revolutionary changes of the early 1990s.

Daniel Webster and the Unfinished Constitution by Peter Charles Hoffer

Hoffer’s latest book provides a kind of constitutional biography of Daniel Webster, a prominent American politician of the first half of the nineteenth century, famed for his oratory. Hoffer focuses on Webster’s role as a leader of the Supreme Court bar, arguing that Webster’s legal advocacy generated a coherent and influential constitutional jurisprudence. He suggests, in effect, that Webster was often the brains behind Chief Justice John Marshall’s campaign to establish a Federalist interpretation of the Constitution, one that could constrain the movements for radical democracy and states’ rights from the 1810s to the 1830s.Hoffer identifies three constitutional “conundrums” that the founding generation bequeathed to Webster’s generation: (1) how to draw the line between federal and state authority (federalism), (2) how to keep politics and law separate, and (3) how to protect private rights of property while allowing government adequate authority to achieve its ends. This tripartite framework provides a fair enough entrée into Webster’s jurisprudence, as manifested in the four major Supreme Court cases that Hoffer addresses. But these three conundrums also overlapped, and they did not cover the whole ground of constitutional development. The future of slavery, for example, stands out as a major constitutional area only incompletely addressed in 1787 and likewise overlapping with Hoffer’s three areas. Nonetheless, Hoffer’s framework is helpful, even if it works less well for the three nonjudicial episodes that Hoffer tries to fit into the same narrative (the Webster–Robert Hayne debate of 1830 regarding states’ rights, Webster’s short term as Secretary of State from 1841 to 1843, and Webster’s defense of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act).Hoffer’s account of Webster’s four most famous Supreme Court cases tells a familiar story. Over the course of five years, Webster argued, and the Court adopted, a characteristically Federalist jurisprudence in Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819), McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), to each of which Hoffer gives a full chapter’s treatment. That jurisprudence had three components—stout defense of judicial authority (as against the constitutional claims of the so-called political branches); constitutionalization of judge-made, common-law protections for property rights (mostly by way of the Contracts Clause); and vindication of expansive national authority within a federal system. That story usually features Marshall as the dominant character, but Hoffer claims that Marshall’s opinions often just cribbed Webster’s arguments. The value in Hoffer’s claims is that the Court’s work was never that of a single, heroic chief justice but was drawn from many sources, including Webster’s advocacy. That said, Hoffer’s strongest claims for Webster’s influence go largely undemonstrated.More importantly, the whole exercise in apportioning credit for the jurisprudence of the time is a little old-fashioned, tending to slight the larger context that produced both Marshall’s and Webster’s contributions and exaggerating the power and coherence of their thinking. Hoffer gives short shrift to the common and forceful critiques of the Webster/Marshall approach in circulation at the time. Indeed, the familiar story moves ahead to the Charles River Bridge Case (1837), which saw a now-Jacksonian Court dial back a major strand of Federalist jurisprudence, the sanctification of vested property rights. Again, it is not clear that this story is best told through Hoffer’s celebration of Webster’s powers of constitutional argument. But, in any case, it would be more clearly told with a fuller account of the Jacksonian movement’s legitimate and triumphant critiques of Federalist jurisprudence.Readers of this journal will want to know that the interdisciplinary dimension of Hoffer’s book is limited. The methodology is that of a conventional intellectual biography, closely reading Webster’s arguments before the Court, as well as his private notes and papers, to draw out a coherent intellectual approach to an important problem of the time. Hoffer does occasionally bring some legal theory into the argument. For example, at one point he introduces ideas of originalism, original intent, textualism, legal positivism, and legal realism (88–90). But these tools of legal theory receive only the briefest of treatments, ultimately doing little to deepen the argument. Similarly, although Hoffer concludes the book with a helpful summary that focuses on Webster’s veneration of the rule of law, he misses the chance to provide a critical analysis of law’s function in a supposedly “democratic” society built on a slavery-protective Constitution.

Governing nanotechnology: Codes, citizenship and strong democracy

Knowledge is a form of power, but power for those who deploy it, not create it. New technoscientific programs, such as nanotechnology, are crucial realms for democratizing society since they aren’t ‘locked-in’ through technological momentum and because they are sites of cultural and technological production, which is another important form of power. Science and technology in the early 21st Century are mainly shaped by market (profit) and military priorities. Sometimes within these new areas, resistance to these pressures produces new ways of understanding how science and technology can contribute to a just and sustainable future. In nanotechnology research this tension can be seen in the various codes promulgated for its regulation. It is also clear in such theories and practices as cyborg citizenship, hybrid imagination, scientists’ social responsibility and activism, prefigurative practices such as art and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and Do-It-Together (DIT) organizing and the democracy and technology movement. They reveal how the development of nanotechnologies and the nanosciences can lead not just to new inventions and medical treatments, but to stronger democracy as well.

Open Source Architecture and Environmental Improvement Potentials

It is a well-known fact that humans harm the environment during the endeavors they do to fulfill their needs. It can be stated that adverse results are mainly related to creating built environments and the mechanism of current construction industry has a major role. This linear process, which starts at the end of design and continues through the aftermath of demolish of the building at the end of its useful life, has been gradually destroying the natural environment in a repetitive cycle of construction and demolition. It is obvious that a new approach is needed for a shift of paradigm instead of weak attempts that focus on specific subjects of current situation. For this aim, the notion of open source, which emerged in computer technologies, adopted by different disciplines and started a democratization movement, is discussed in this research. The projection of this concept over the field of architecture in the last 30 years has been examined through different examples and the potential benefits of this advancements are reviewed in the context of creating positive outcomes for environmental interaction. Even though the open source architecture seems to advance through sharing platforms and digitalized production methods, we notice that examined references hold a deeper and more effective transition potential. It is logical to regard the hierarchical stages that are embraced for the life of built environments as the main reason for environmental problems and accordingly the examination results of this study reveal that open source architecture can create productive and integrative cycles to allow a better engagement, flexibility with local preferences and upcycle opportunities. Therefore, we believe that a more tangible idea for a built environment which can produce net positive results for humans and nature can be created.

Social Movements for Democracy in Post-Communist space: two Revolutions in Czechoslovakia (1968, 1989)

This article is a comparative analysis of two revolutions in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and 1989. The main question of this article is: Why did the revolution in 1968 fail, but the revolution in 1989 succeed? In this article the main reasons, common features and differences of those two revolutions were analysed and defined. The main conclusion of this article is the fact that a necessary condition for the victory of popular resistance is the support of these manifestations by the military or their non-interference. The 1968 revolution was suppressed as a result of the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops under the leadership of the Soviet Union, but the events of 1989 were marked by a decision by the country’s military leadership on their neutrality.

알리기 위한 지역학, 알고 싶은 지역학 - 미국 내 한국학 수업 풍경과 연구 동향

This review essay introduces the landscape of Korean Studies class in the US and recent books in Korean Studies with three primary points: kinship studies in the context of war, history of social movements and the Korean diaspora. First, kinship studies based on the context of the Korean War and the Cold War have paid attention to war traumas, personal/collective sufferings and memories. Among them are studies that examine how the most intimate relationship, “kinship”, can turn into political relationships. This articulation of kinship as politics has allowed new ways of historical narrative writing and new analysis of subject formation. These studies address the process in which kinship has acquired political meanings and war lives across and beyond the battle field and ideological competitions as a continuous legacy. Second, studies of social movements linked to the developmental state have pointed out the continuity of democratization movements after the democratic transition. These studies highlight the institutionalization of democratization movements and co-existing movement with a defiance. Youths familiar and active on online communities have primarily led the disorganized and de-institutionalized political movements as a way to participate in political activities in an ordinary sense. Third, Korean diaspora studies have explored the formation of overseas Koreans as ethnic minority subjects and the contested ways that they encounter the homeland (mainly South Korea) in the context of globalization and post Cold War. Korean diaspora studies have rapidly increased as the neoliberal South Korean government recognized the “value” of overseas Koreans. This review of books in Korean studies demonstrates that they are interrogating complex historical and theoretical questions and not merely aiming to introduce and promote an unknown country to the world. Within the US, Korean Studies has emerged as a critical channel that allows American students to ask reflective questions about the relationship that the US has established with the world, and about global capitalism through the lens of Korea.

Connections between energy and ecological democracy: Considering the Climate Council as a case of climate action in Australia

Energy democracy and ecological democracy movements and thinking are attracting considerable academic attention in the social sciences. Both encompass climate change responses and institutions that include prefigurative politics and diverse strategies for achieving more sustainable futures. However, the academic literatures on ecological democracy and energy democracy do not frequently cross-pollinate. This article presents a case study of a climate action organisation in Australia, the Climate Council, that could be read as belonging to both energy democracy and ecological democracy movements. As a result, it demonstrates that energy democracy and ecological democracy share common ground. I suggest that social scientific research on energy governance could engage with the connections between energy democracy and ecological democracy to deepen our understanding of the contradictions and tensions that exist between prefiguration and hierarchical structures in these organisations. While energy democracy is a relatively new concept, academic work in this area should acknowledge and engage with earlier work on ecological democracy given the conceptual overlaps between both areas.