Theirs is not a fulfilment of environmental obligations, an attempt to achieve
‘resilience’, or a response to limits, but the daily practice of a satisfying life.
In other words: it is not just that the journey to sustainability is less difficult
than is sometimes presented – large sections of humanity may already be on
it without feeling the need to proclaim the fact loudly.
(Smith and Jehlic ˇka 2013, p34)
In other instances – for example, in China – mobilizations around agroecological
farming have emerged in some areas, often supported by environmental NGOs,
but all approved and in some cases directly supported by the state. In such a political
setting, mobilization separate from the state is not feasible or would be risky, so a
strategic alliance is struck with the state, through negotiation with officials, that
accommodates, and may even later support, such efforts. As the Chinese state increas -
ingly recognizes the environmental challenges wrought by its rapid economic
transition, such small-scale, very localized forms of organization may be seen as a
useful route to influence (Geall, 2013).
A similar argument for ‘quiet sustainability’ could be made for small-scale
producers, forest dwellers, informal shack dwellers and many others in the global
South who often live outside the reaches of formal institutions and policy. Yet
through diverse forms of solidarity – again often not constructed as movements –
they carve out livelihoods that very often have positive environmental benefits.
Whether this is the management of trees for the harvesting of non-timber forest
projects, complex home gardening and multifunctional agricultural practices, the
recycling of urban waste and the building of homes, or indeed the numerous daily
practices of millions of people worldwide, many might represent a form of ‘quiet
sustainability’. Hidden from view, not appreciated as part of policy, these are
pathways towards sustainability that are less visible and more difficult to institu -
tionalize, yet are nevertheless highly significant. Some might dismiss such activities
as simply environmentalism through poverty. But just as the Polish and Czech plot
holders should not be seen as ‘urban peasants’ (Smith and Jehlic ˇka, 2013), such
everyday environmentally oriented practices, rooted in the cultures of sharing,
guardianship, repairing and responsibility, should not be dismissed lightly.
It is this practised behaviour, repeated and institutionalized in particular
sociocultural contexts, which may represent the ‘quiet’ revolution to sustainability.
It involves mobilization in that people are enlisted, relations of solidarity and
exchange are established and motivations are articulated, but its political implications are different. By not confronting the state or even not engaging with it all,
although sometimes strategically allying with it, important strides are made towards
green transformations that take a different form, and with a different politics
compared to the classic mobilizations and movements described in the cases of La
Via Cam pesina and the anti-GM movement. The urban Transition initiative case
perhaps lies somewhere in between; less noisy and confrontational than these others,
yet deploying particular, calculated political strategies of negotiation and the
demonstration of alternatives.
Mobilizing for green transformations 129
‘resilience’, or a response to limits, but the daily practice of a satisfying life.
In other words: it is not just that the journey to sustainability is less difficult
than is sometimes presented – large sections of humanity may already be on
it without feeling the need to proclaim the fact loudly.
(Smith and Jehlic ˇka 2013, p34)
In other instances – for example, in China – mobilizations around agroecological
farming have emerged in some areas, often supported by environmental NGOs,
but all approved and in some cases directly supported by the state. In such a political
setting, mobilization separate from the state is not feasible or would be risky, so a
strategic alliance is struck with the state, through negotiation with officials, that
accommodates, and may even later support, such efforts. As the Chinese state increas -
ingly recognizes the environmental challenges wrought by its rapid economic
transition, such small-scale, very localized forms of organization may be seen as a
useful route to influence (Geall, 2013).
A similar argument for ‘quiet sustainability’ could be made for small-scale
producers, forest dwellers, informal shack dwellers and many others in the global
South who often live outside the reaches of formal institutions and policy. Yet
through diverse forms of solidarity – again often not constructed as movements –
they carve out livelihoods that very often have positive environmental benefits.
Whether this is the management of trees for the harvesting of non-timber forest
projects, complex home gardening and multifunctional agricultural practices, the
recycling of urban waste and the building of homes, or indeed the numerous daily
practices of millions of people worldwide, many might represent a form of ‘quiet
sustainability’. Hidden from view, not appreciated as part of policy, these are
pathways towards sustainability that are less visible and more difficult to institu -
tionalize, yet are nevertheless highly significant. Some might dismiss such activities
as simply environmentalism through poverty. But just as the Polish and Czech plot
holders should not be seen as ‘urban peasants’ (Smith and Jehlic ˇka, 2013), such
everyday environmentally oriented practices, rooted in the cultures of sharing,
guardianship, repairing and responsibility, should not be dismissed lightly.
It is this practised behaviour, repeated and institutionalized in particular
sociocultural contexts, which may represent the ‘quiet’ revolution to sustainability.
It involves mobilization in that people are enlisted, relations of solidarity and
exchange are established and motivations are articulated, but its political implications are different. By not confronting the state or even not engaging with it all,
although sometimes strategically allying with it, important strides are made towards
green transformations that take a different form, and with a different politics
compared to the classic mobilizations and movements described in the cases of La
Via Cam pesina and the anti-GM movement. The urban Transition initiative case
perhaps lies somewhere in between; less noisy and confrontational than these others,
yet deploying particular, calculated political strategies of negotiation and the
demonstration of alternatives.
Mobilizing for green transformations 129