6: Democracy

Overview & Synopsis

The Anthropocene challenges traditional distinctions between society and the environment, presenting humans as geological agents responsible for irreversible planet-scale damage. The existing global political system, dominated by nation-states and international institutions, struggles to address critical threats to the planet's life. Consequently, reevaluating lifestyles, socio-economic practices, and political institutions becomes imperative in the face of ongoing ecological crises. As societies grapple with persistent ecological emergencies and strive to adapt to rapidly changing physical circumstances, some important political questions arise about what kinds of transformations should be sought after, what policies and practices would achieve these transformations, and who participates in making these decisions. This means reconsidering conceptions of power, justice, and democracy, the last of which is the subject of this chapter. To do this, I discuss challenges for democracy in the Anthropocene, propose some convivial tools with which democracy can be reimagined, and provide proposals that aim to address some of these challenges.