Planet: Critical Folgen

Exploitative elites are everywhere—so is resistanceThe Global North vs Global South divide fails to capture the reality of power dynamics as national elites extract from their own citizens—often in the name of development. Capitalism funnels wealth to the top in every country, facilitated by a globalised system built on economic growth. But around the world, people are organising to resist these structures, to reclaim their land and their labour in order to benefit their communities. They are modelling alternative ways of being together; they are weaving together possibility.Ashish Kothari is an environmentalist who has been working at the intersection of environment, biodiversity and development for decades. He’s the founder of Kalpavriksh, an Indian non profit organisation working on environmental and social issues at local, national and global levels. He also organises both the Confluence of Alternatives and the Global Tapestry of Alternatives, projects which bring together people all around India and the world to imagine and strategise alternative ways of being, politics, economies and systems.We discuss the history of colonialism, the global obsession with economic growth, development as neo-colonialism, global and national inequality, patriarchy and the reality of elite exploitation across all nations. Ashish then goes on to introduce the people’s movements springing up around India, turning imagination into possibility as viable models are trialled which re-embed communities in their land and heal their relationship with the earth.“What we need are systems across the country, across the globe, of this kind of political and economic localisation where people are able to take control over their ecosystems, their actual resources, their knowledge, their technologies, and also invite knowledge and technologies from outside if they think that what they have is not enough—but in on their own terms. Not being dominated from outside, so the political decision making and the economic decision making is at that local level. It is not with private corporations, nor is it even with the nation state.“That is what we call radical ecological democracy, or, here in India, we call it eco-swaraj.”© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

The Amazon is in trouble—so are its people.Journalist Heriberto Araujo has been investigating the stories of the Amazon for over a decade. In his forthcoming book: Masters of the Lost Land. The Untold Story of the Amazon and the Violent Fight for the World's Last Frontier he presents a three-year investigation to uncover a widespread underworld of violence, corruption, and impunity that has delivered the riches of the Amazon to a ruthless elite. But in this true crime story, set against the backdrop of the towering Brazilian jungle and unfolding over five decades, not everyone surrenders to the power of guns and money. And that's what makes the story extraordinary.He joins me to tell the story of Maria Joel Dias Da Costa, the widow of murdered activist, José Dutra da Costa. Dezinho, as he was known, had rallied the rural worker’s union against rampant corruption of wealthy landowners driving deforestation and death through the jungle. He died in the arms of his wife after being shot outside their home. Maria took it upon herself to continue her husband’s work, confronting the political, economic and industry elites to save her home, family and community from these terrible forces.Heriberto goes on to discuss the fascinating connection between inflation and land-grabbing in the Amazon, explaining how many people take land to protect their interests in an unstable economic climate, before taking a wider overview of Brazilian politics and relationship with China, and the impact that may have on the climate fight in coming years.“There were many businessmen and wealthy families who saw opportunity and decided to move to the Amazon to expand dramatically the land that they could own. There are some cases which are shocking—some landowners had ranches, or claimed to have ranches, the size of Cuba or Honduras… “Maria Joel was a normal housewife with four underage children whose husband was murdered. She held her husband in her arms while he was dying. She had two choices. Either she simply move from the region, from this small town, and try to turn the page because she suspected that she would have to confront the economic and the political elite of the town. In one of those momentous situations of her life, she decided to stay in that town no matter the risk. What I found incredibly interesting from my book was exploring the feelings and the doubts and the controversies of a woman who would have chosen another life.”  Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

If we can’t undo the damage, how do we survive it?Bob Jensen, political theorist, is the co-author of An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. He joined me to discuss the book’s message: transitioning humanely to a more equitable and a smaller society will demand creativity, resilience and community.In this episode, we swap stories on those themes, telling tales of friends who marked us, communities who are forming in the face on political instability, the importance of storytelling as a tool with which to remind us of the best of humanity. This is a moving interview which intertwines knowledge with emotional honesty in the face of potential collapse.During, I also introduce a new project, WE WILL BEAR WITNESS, which documents stories from around the world detailing the perils and resistance of this moment in history. Sign up to bear witness.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe