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Papers by Nick Garside

Democratic Ideals and the Politicization of Nature, 2013

In 1992 Robyn Eckersley argued that it was possible to discern three "major eco-political pr... more In 1992 Robyn Eckersley argued that it was possible to discern three "major eco-political preoccupations" in green political thought. These were participa-tion, survival, and emancipation; respectively, they corresponded loosely to the previous three decades of eco-political activity. These three concerns remain central to contemporary environmental politics, but the decade and a half fol-lowing Eckersley's book has arguably seen the consolidation of a fourth: democracy. As the limitations of liberal democracy came to be seen as funda-mental to the ecological crisis, green political theorists saw the need for a more participatory, grass-roots alterna-tive. Other theorists likewise realized that if their ideas and arguments were to warrant broad attention outside the circles of green activism they must find points of articulation with demo-cratic politics. While a welcome ethos of diversity and tension continues to be the most recognizable trait of the democratic stage ...

The presence of an " invasive " has long been associated with value laden terms like foreign, dis... more The presence of an " invasive " has long been associated with value laden terms like foreign, disruptive, unwelcome, detrimental and dangerous. Given that the invasive is not authentic to place the often-unchallenged responses to their attendance include hyper-management, direct management and consistent control, but most typically eradication. The reason most often given for eradication of the individual species is preservation of the integrity of the collective environment. While much of the language (authenticity, conservation, purity, natural) associated with conservation and restoration projects has rightly been challenged and shown to have dangerous racist connotations, this line of argument will not be the focus of the paper. Rather, I will focus my attention on the disruptive promise that may emerge from claiming the language of the invasive as a political metaphor for envisioning one's political agency. Specifically, I argue that by attaching the idea(l) of an invasive or feral identity onto democratic citizenship, individual political agents can challenge traditional concepts of place while concurrently better performing their democratic roles as expanders of the public sphere and celebrants of always tension filled and pluralist political space.

Books by Nick Garside

It is now commonly accepted that liberation discourse has moved from socialism to democracy. In ... more It is now commonly accepted that liberation discourse has moved from socialism to democracy. In fact, few contemporary political theories are taken seriously if some sort of commitment to democracy is not central to their proposal. As a result, political concepts like citizenship, freedom and democracy have become among the most used and abused terms in the Western world. Unfortunately, the more substantive and critical characteristics of democracy are being excluded from many of these discussions including those concerning the partnership between citizenship rhetoric/practice and particular social movements or theories such as environmentalism. Indeed, while democracy is being taken up by more and more groups, it is typically an instrumental or procedural version that is being pursued or embraced.

This book is in part a response to the absence of a theory of political agency that offers a way of bringing the substantive side of democracy back into the political arena. It is also a response to the need to revitalize the disruptive, critical and exploratory nature of a genuine commitment to democracy. Finally, it is a response to an already present yet unrealized promise in environmentalism’s recent turn to democracy, primarily in the form of the conversations and strategies developing around ecological citizenship. The questions that guide the book are: What type of a political actor is capable of taking on the critical and virtuous task of reinvigorating the substantive side of the democratic tradition? What can be learned from the tension filled relationship between political agency and representations of the more than human world? What sorts of characteristics would accompany an approach to democratic citizenship that focuses on revitalizing the public sphere and reinvigorating the critical aspects of the democratic tradition? What kinds of actions and commitments would such a citizen embody? And, what could such a politics first approach to citizenship contribute to the ever expanding conversation around ecological citizenship. Responding to these questions, I propose an anti-authoritarian and radically democratic theory of wandering feral citizenship. I argue that by learning from the traditions of aimless walking and by embracing a consciously feral method of political engagement, amateur citizens can prompt political moments that create the conditions where the primacy of the political can be performed, realized and defended. Ultimately, the purpose of this book is not to solve the problems and paradoxes of democracy but to assist in unleashing and celebrating them. To conclude the book I come full circle to use the methodology of feral citizenship – inspired by the environmentalism/democracy articulation – to re-prioritize the political within the green public sphere and re-claim the necessary (and welcome) tension between representations of nature and political citizenship.

Conference Presentations by Nick Garside

In my abstract for this paper I claim that a main hindrance to green citizenship"s political pote... more In my abstract for this paper I claim that a main hindrance to green citizenship"s political potential lies in the fact that, in the face of very real threats to ecological well-being it seems irresponsible not to push (by whatever means available) for a more ecologically benign society. And, as such, there is little opportunity for politics and certainly no time for celebration and fun which for me is, or at least ought to be a part of political life. What we tend to get is a highly melodramatic framing of the issue(s) grounded in crisis talk that offers very few political options, yet quite a few administrative and practical ones that we all know full well aren't going to achieve the kinds of changes we would actually like to see.

Democratic Ideals and the Politicization of Nature, 2013

We do not boast that we possess absolute truth; on the contrary, we believe that social truth is ... more We do not boast that we possess absolute truth; on the contrary, we believe that social truth is not a fixed quality, good for all times, universally applicable or determinable in advance…Our solutions always leave the door open to different and, one hopes better solutions. (Malatesta 1965(Malatesta [1921: 269)

It is not given to every man to take a bath of multitude; enjoying a crowd is an art; and only he... more It is not given to every man to take a bath of multitude; enjoying a crowd is an art; and only he can relish a debauch of vitality at the expense of the human species, on whom, in his cradle, a fairy has bestowed the love of masks and masquerading, the hate of home, and the passion for roaming. (Charles Baudelaire "Crowds") All you freeborn men of the travelling people every tinker rolling stone and gypsy rover winds of change are blowing old ways are going your travelling days will soon be over Ewan McColl, "The Travelling People"