In Portugal, SDGs, AIDGLOBAL, Sustainability, 2024, Education for Sustainable Development, Imperial Way of Life,

Imperial Way of Life and Socio-Ecological Transformation

"Imperial Way of Life" was the theme of the online event organized by the promoter of the "Re:thinking global!" project - Evangelische Akademie in Bad Boll - on the 11th of June, which highlighted the concept with the social transformation of society as its horizon for action.
Current changes and multiple crises are drawing attention to new notions that critically address and analyze society's problems. The concept of the "Imperial Way of Life" explores the global network of power and domination, maintained by various strategies and practices that affect everything from everyday actions to invisible global structures, giving rise to destructive relations between society and nature. As emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil adopt lifestyles from the Global North, the demand for resources and the externalization of costs, such as CO2 emissions, increases. This generates ecological and economic competition with the Global North, resulting in eco-imperial tensions reflected in global climate and energy policies. (2021, Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen).

In this vein, Andrés Musacchio, Director of Studies at the Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll (Germany), began the session by welcoming all the speakers, followed by the presentation of the programme that would mark the meeting.

The first presentation was given by Markus Wissen from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, who specializes in socio-ecological transformation. He addressed economic and social issues around the concept of the "Imperial Way of Life", stressing that production and consumption patterns depend on an unequal appropriation of labour and natural resources on a global scale, which results in huge social and ecological costs that are externalized over time and space. The speaker pointed out that this model is deeply rooted in the everyday practices, power relations and structures of capitalist societies, which presuppose exclusivity and exclusion, making it unsustainable on socio-ecological grounds.

He also pointed out that the fight against eco-imperial tensions, which range from the extraction of raw materials to international climate policy, requires strategies that minimise the impact of the political crisis and promote ecological and just modernization. Elements of socio-ecological transformation, such as ecological rationality, solidarity and resilient self-limitation, are essential for building alliances and strategies that see the ecological crisis as an intersectional issue of class, gender and (neo)colonial relations, so that there is a sustainable restructuring of production and consumption patterns.

After her presentation, the floor was opened to a constructive debate among the various participants, followed by a speech by Johanna Neuffer, a collaborator from the "Education Meets Development" programme and from the library of the project's partner organization, EPiZ Reutlingen, who presented a variety of methods, games and teaching materials designed to raise awareness and mobilize young people towards environmental sustainability.

Among the examples given by Johanna Neuffer was the Urban Monsters Game, which encourages responsible environmental behaviour to mitigate the impact of water pollution and global warming. Another aspect highlighted was the World Game, which illustrates the distribution of resources and CO2 emissions globally, with the aim of raising awareness of inequalities and promoting understanding of power structures through an interactive world map.

At the end of his speech, there was room for debate and reflection among the 47 or so participants – partner organizations and professionals from various educational areas –, on the inequalities inherent in capitalism and alternative ways of life, with a view to (de)constructing the concept between global production processes and global consumption. Experiences were also shared and contributions made to improve educational practices developed with and for young people, in order to prepare them to exercise conscious, dynamic and informed citizenship in the face of current environmental issues.

Watch the video of the meeting here.

The meeting is part of the “Re:thinking global!" project, funded by the European Commission`s Erasmus+ Programme, is promoted by the Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll – Bad Boll Protestant Academy and has as partners AIDGLOBAL – Acção e Integração para o Desenvolvimento GlobalEPiZ Reutlingen – Development Education Information CenterLAI/VHS – DIE WIENER VOLKSHOCHSCHULEN GMBH – Vienna Adult Education Centers and ÖFSE – Austrian Foundation for Development Research.