Possibilities emerging: Subham Kar Chaudhuri on generational and post-colonial shifts
Subham Kar Chaudhuri is a global campaigner with experience in implementing strategies for global environmental and social campaigns, facilitating spaces, and supporting public-private policy relations, focusing particularly on research in agriculture and water. Subham is currently the Asia Regional Liaison and Global South Media Coordinator at Extinction Rebellion Global Support, a Strategic Advisor to the Government of India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, and also one of Foundations Earth’s Steering Group members.
In this interview Subham reflects on some of the organisational trends he sees emerging at local and planetary scales, the influence of younger generations and the personal implications such changes.
This is the second in a series of possibility-oriented interviews published by Foundations Earth. We are currently engaging with active members of communities responding to our core inquiry: ‘What if we could respond inclusively and effectively to planetary-scale problems?’ To learn more about our work, you can visit our website or read more about our inquiry.
Photo of Banthamari State Forest, from Alka Jha (available here)
At what crossroads do we find ourselves at this moment in time?
Local and global interaction avenues are decreasing as the authoritarian governments clamp down more on such avenues in order to be more protectionary in their diplomacy. Innovation and co-creation, hence, is getting limited to institutions that those regimes trust, who are old and bulky and not agile.
We need to be more agile with our trust. These are scary times as we move to a post-truth world of unknowns with regards to the climate cycles.
We need to be open with our fears. These are the times when our strength of being together is going to be tested and most required. To go beyond human nature – of choosing to do the similar to feel safe – and instead doing the scary [or] unfamiliar needs better collaborations as examples. We need to be more audacious with our courage.
What is it that enlivens you that you see maturing or growing wildly in the commons?
I think, great intent. I see great intent and a deep amount of faith in our people who are from the same place, and I see a huge amount of mistrust in anybody who's from outside, especially for the “made-up” middle class.
Now, as we move towards a zone where we are going to be fighting for water and food, as pricing and unavailability of both increase, I feel like what I can see is that a new set of people who are tired of these things emerge – and they are emerging. These are 24-26 year olds who are actually going to be the future citizens of these affected areas. I see a lot of commonality in the way that I'm thinking and what they're thinking, and how they are changing their perceptions about the commons.
Obviously, there is a lag time for some of us who are early adopters, and we have moved ahead facing higher inertia to join the herd, but I have full faith in these 25, 26, 27, 28 year olds right now, who are working in other organisations to then turn around and be like, ‘Nope, we need more institutions, we need more foundations that think a little differently.’
The sheer number of people that we have with a shared vision – in some ways that probably is something that I see emerging around me. People post-Corona, who strongly helped their own region with their own willpower and hands despite times being dark with despair and learnt how it feels to take matters in their own hands and succeed. They don't want to be just working on planetary-level problems within the realms of activists, academics or tech bros. They don't want to be working on meta, big, large – instead they are honing down into specific locations with regions that have sentimental value to them to protect.
What our previous generations who worked, ran and created NGOs have done is they have created an accidental colonial format of these NGOs. Now groups and other ways of congregating are coordinating themselves.
What is emerging are these new sets of people, who are looking for organisations that are going to do something better. An example of this is an organisation from the financial capital [of India], Mumbai. They are getting five different entities that are working on a specific problem – education for destitute children. Rather than funding one of them, they thus get five different approaches to problem solve, five different learnings to inform each other from past failures, and five new experimental geographies to try new things with the people affected, thus not wasting time and effort and instead ‘tag teaming’ a problem.
This is a strategic mashup of organisations with different kinds of skill sets. So if they want to eradicate child poverty, or fix education for destitute children who do not have parents, they're not only working with people who work with destitute children, they're working with people who work with schooling, they're working with people who work with volunteers, and different other groups of people coordinating together. This is what I really, really like - making the problems a commons.
We are redefining the future of work by an amalgamation of multiple different kinds of these foundations, institutions – non-registered, registered together – and this is growing everywhere. And if my country can do so, I'm assuming then Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh – which probably is doing far better than India anyway – are going to also evolve at the same time.
So what I am sensing is a huge generational shift is replacing the NGOs in a post-colonial era with so much bravery.
How are you being affected by that to which you are paying attention?
I'm torn between earning a living at the present and securing my future, which makes me feel like I have to build something new, so that the future could be different. I'm torn between seeking safety, because that's what I'm designed in my head to do, taking care of my loved ones and being secure in an insecure place. I'm referring to: Where would we live? Would it be too expensive for everyone to live comfortably? What kind of job would I have to find for us to not be a threat? And then looking at severe violence and other issues spreading as a byproduct of this collapse in certain pockets, which people are not identifying right now.
What declaration of possibility can you make that has the power to transform our response to planetary scale problems?
Me having the courage to think in a certain way certainly can inspire 20 more kids who are lost because there are very few role models, even for the 30 year olds. There are parents from a colonial age that are probably pushing their children towards some kind of a safety-security structure, but that's not a role model for possibilities we intend to see. So to give them hope, to show them successes, is what I am also using for myself in some ways, and also using to spread to others, because this job cannot be done alone, especially at a speed I wish to see.
When you talk about something which is at a planetary scale, you need a bunch of people behind you, because everybody, every leader also feels like they are going to fail at some point in time, however they try to bring up their own courage in ways so that others can feed off of it. So that's what I will kneel down or say that I'm very hopeful for in the present situation, but I fear at times that I might be the only one. I feel like more conversations with people from outside will broker more trust within ourselves and instil the confidence that we can do it.
In recent times, we seem to have become less daring, adopting traits of uncertainty from the Western world. The fear of potential threats from outsiders has grown over the generations. This mindset contributes to a pessimistic narrative that dominates our thinking.
People have become increasingly cautious about outsiders, especially as resources become scarcer. In my interpretation, communal violence is often misinterpreted as criminal violence, and migration may also play a role. Nevertheless, it remains a distinct issue.
The fear and apprehension in people are so strong that they struggle to imagine any solutions. Instead of reaching out and making friends, people tend to isolate themselves, fearing that sharing resources with others might endanger their families. Even though there are news stories about conflicts between nations like Pakistan and India or China and India, the root of some disputes lies in the sharing of water resources from interconnected rivers.
What is the courage you need to take you in that direction?
The courage I seek lies in the power of people coming together. It's not just about others agreeing with my ideas, but actively exploring and implementing them in their own communities, so we can learn from each other. Before my time is up, all I wish to do is take action that is relevant, makes sense of the world, promotes unity and can be replicated elsewhere.
In my isolated setting, I can prove certain concepts similar to what our elders have done in the past. For example, I could choose a village or district, settle there and gradually improve it over the next decade, despite facing inevitable challenges. However, I want to expedite the process, as building trust with the locals takes time and genuine effort in helping rather than exploiting them. Seeing the community respond positively and with honest intentions would boost my courage and commitment to this cause.
Of course, financial support would be beneficial. By support, I mean having the basics covered – no fear of going hungry or being unable to take care of my family if someone falls ill. I aim to demonstrate how financial capital can be utilised in a different way to provide a sense of security and liberation to people. I believe that gaining this understanding and being able to share it with others would require courage. Validation from my elders, peers and even younger individuals would be significant, as it usually is in such pursuits.
What do you want or need from your community to make that happen?
The elders in our systems need to understand that it's alright to acknowledge their past failures. They, like us, were going through a period of significant transition, albeit without the tools and resources available to us today. It's crucial to find a way to communicate to them that it's okay to have made mistakes and, in turn, have them reassure us that we are doing our best.
Let's create an open space for dialogue and meaningful conversations, as we recognise the importance of what they have to say. We understand that some of these elders might be trapped in echo chambers, discussing discouraging topics, which can be demotivating for people like me.
On the other hand, there are elders who have already broken away from such narratives, working in smaller groups with limited funding and facing government attacks. Acknowledging this reality, we realise that we are gradually moving away from colonial influences while they might be attempting to revive certain aspects of it.
It is essential to embrace the fact that the future is equally valid for all people on this planet, and we should not carry the burden of post-colonial guilt in any way, even if it's through someone's lived realities.
This interview was conducted by Tchiyiwe Chihana, with editing support from Sam Walby.
Subham Kar Chaudhuri
Learn more about Subham’s work and connect via LinkedIn.
Find out more about Foundations Earth on our website, or check out our organisational summary and core inquiry.
