Building an Empirical Case for Ecological Democracy

Abstract

The concept of ecological democracy has been employed to illustrate how rapid ecological and environmental change poses significant problems for existing democratic structures. If the term is to prove useful, however, it must be better conceptualized and empirically tested. This article addresses this challenge by first outlining key empirical intersections of environment and democracy, then providing a working definition of ecological democracy. Four plausible research hypotheses are also recommended to guide future analyses of ecological democracy.

Defining Urban Sustainability in the Context of North American Cities

“…The preceding examples illustrate the conflicts and complexities of defining sustainability in an urban context. As Mitchell (2006) and Langhelle (2000) argue, when commonly accepted terms like sustainable development and ecological modernization suffer from definitional ambiguity, how can other conceptual subsets-like urban sustainability-have a chance? One way is to begin by offering a reasonable definition of urban sustainability by using previous urban studies to build a framework for future research.…”

Electronic Waste Management: A Comparative Policy Analysis Between the Swiss and Canadian Approaches

“…In the realms of urban sociology and urban planning, the ongoing debate amongst academics has dealt with the various ways in which one can tackle the plethora of environmental issues the world is witnessing in recent years. However, a common solution that many scholars, environmentalists, policy makers and urban planners agree upon is the concept of sustainable development which has largely been seen as a legally unenforceable resolution (Zeemering 2009;Ross 2006). Over the past years, many academics (Paehlke 1989;Blassingame 1998;Fuentes 1998;Martino 2009) have researched the origins and meaning of sustainability, however the recent popularity of the word sustainability, specifically urban sustainability and green cities should require us to rethink and redefine sustainability as an idea that will allow us to examine, explain, and critique the current urban sprawl which may distort the economic, social, political, and cultural processes in the widespread execution of urban development (Lorr 2012).…”

Education for ecological democracy

“…The term 'radical' ecological democracy (RED) stands for degrowth policies, grassroots participation and has been used to demonstrate problems for existing democratic structures (Kothari, 2014;Mitchell, 2006). RED contributes to the search 'for sustainable and equitable alternatives to the dominant economic development model' that pursues the 'goals of direct democracy, local and bioregional economies, cultural diversity, human well-being, and ecological resilience at the core of its vision' (Kothari, 2014, p. 57).…”