Ecological Democracy for the Just and Sustainable Society

Ecological democracy can be defined as the political practice in which the right of social minorities, future generations and non-human beings can be deliberated and realized in the open and participatory public sphere and policy process. Ecological sustainability and the intrinsic value of non-human beings should be deliberated in ecological democracy. Though ecological democracy can develop on the basis of deliberative democracy, the former goes beyond the latter. Ecological democracy needs to be extended to the economic and political system. It is because ecological sustainability and social justice can be attained when the state and market are re-embedded to the society as Karl Polanyi said. Environmental justice movement, ecological cooperative movement, energy transition movement, etc. are the social actions for ecological democracy.

Developmentalism and industrialism can be transformed to ecological democracy at a certain policy sector such as energy policy. New administration of South Korea and Taiwan started the nuclear phasing out policy in 2017. Energy transition in Taiwan and South Korea can be a representative case to explain the possibility of eco-democratic transition in developmental states.