Just Transformations Grassroots Struggles for Alternative Futures

How can societies be transformed in the interests of environmental sustainability from the ground up?

‘Hugely important ... Drawing on grassroots alternatives from across the world, the book offers a vital guide’ Ian Scoones, Professor, University of Sussex

‘A fantastic collection that illustrates that just transformations are already being imagined and implemented on the ground’ David Schlosberg, Professor, University of Sydney

‘A splendid book co-produced by an impressive international group of academics and activists ... Optimistic and inspiring’ Joan Martinez-Alier, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

The climate crisis is the greatest existential threat humanity faces today. The need for a radical societal transformation in the interests of social justice and ecological sustainability has never been greater. But where can we turn to find systemic alternatives?

From India, Turkey, Belgium and Lebanon, to Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and Canada, Just Transformations looks to local environmental struggles for the answers. With each case study grounded in the social movements and specific politics of the region in question, this volume investigates the role that resistance movements play in bringing about sustainable transformations, the strategies and tools they utilize to overcome barriers, and how academics and grassroots activists can collaborate effectively.

The book provides a toolkit for scholar-activists who want to build transformative visions with communities. Interrogating each case study for valuable lessons, the contributors develop a conceptualization of a just transformation that focuses on the changes that communities themselves are trying to produce.

Dr Iokiñe Rodríguez is an Associate Professor on Environment and Development based at the School of Global Development at the University of East Anglia. Dr Leah Temper is an ecological economist, scholar activist and environmental health campaigner currently based at the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Dr Mariana Walter is a Political Ecologist and Ecological Economist based at the Institute of Sciences and Technologies of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

The climate crisis is the greatest existential threat humanity faces today. The need for a radical societal transformation in the interests of social justice and ecological sustainability has never been greater. But where can we turn to find systemic alternatives?

From India, Turkey and Bolivia, to Venezuela, Canada and Lebanon, Just Transformations looks to local environmental struggles for the answers. With each case study grounded in the social movements and specific politics of the region in question, this volume investigates the role that resistance movements play in bringing about sustainable transformations, the strategies and tools they utilise to overcome barriers, and how academics and grassroots activists can collaborate effectively.

The book provides a toolkit for scholar-activists who want to build transformative visions with communities. Interrogating each case study for valuable lessons, the contributors develop a conceptualisation of a just transformation that focuses on the changes that communities themselves are trying to produce.