In a conversation about how to be effective in methods of stewardship and activism in the face of massive, extractive and manipulative global powers, Dr. Shiva tells us that “You’ve got to be small and different.” Top-down mechanistic power structures seek to impose uniformity, conformity, and monocultures of the mind – in exactly the same way that mechanistic, market-driven agriculture debases the soil by planting low-nutrient, genetically modified single-species crops for volume and profit. Dr. Shiva guides us instead to cultivate relationships in our local communities and with our natural environment, and to learn and practice indigenous regenerative agriculture methods that favor crop diversity, rich nutrition, and a reciprocal relationship between the land and all who inhabit it.
Through patents and intellectual property rights that now aggressively claim ownership of seeds – laying claim to life itself – corporate agribusinesses are increasingly seeking to bully, conquer, manipulate and master land, food, and the right to farm the land in India and around the world. Dr. Shiva teaches, writes and implores individuals - especially women - to disrupt this pattern by taking responsibility to study and engage directly with the living systems in our local environments in order to create ecosystems and communities based on co-evolution, partnership and relationship; driven by what women bring naturally – an appreciation and deep connection with the aliveness and vulnerability of our world, nurturing care, sensitivity, awareness, compassion and love.
How do we come together to effectively dismantle/disempower power structures that extract, manipulate, and seek to colonize and capitalize on every aspect of Nature’s bounty – seed to harvest, birth to death, from cellular structure to spirit and soul? After years of advocacy on various issues myself, I suspect the way to do this will have to do less with opposing or fighting anything or anyone, as this is exhausting and leads to more and more physical, emotional and psychic violence. I imagine that getting in the trenches; hands in dirt – heart-to-heart and shoulder-to-shoulder with our neighbors – will be the way to steward the Earth in a way that will make our ancestors smile and ensure abundant landscapes for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to inherit.
In conversation about the lessons she’s learned as an activist and food and soil protector, Dr. Shiva had this advice for us: (some comments are paraphrased)
· “Hold your ground.”
· “(Cultivate) resilience.”
· “Keep doing the right thing.”
· Don’t wait for external funding to start or motivate your actions. External funding means that you will be indebted to the wishes of those who financed your projects.
· Take action with commitment, conscience and courage.
· Walk lightly; be extremely sensitive. Let the universe take care of you. Give your bit; do your best, but do not expect an outcome.
· Life does not thrive with the imposition of top-down orders. Mechanical systems dissipate energy. Life thrives when it is tended with the love, compassion and nurturance of women.
Read Dr. Shiva’s book Oneness Versus The One Percent.
Watch the trailer for the soon-to-be-released documentary about her life, Seeds of Vandana Shiva:
“Monsanto’s worst nightmare...”
https://vimeo.com/518756378
Read about the farmer’s protest happening in India now, and the history of agricultural policies and corporate take-overs that have harmed India’s small farmers for decades.
https://navdanyainternational.org/30-40-years-indian-farmers-protest/
Read recent reports published by Navdanya:
http://navdanya.org/site/eco-feminism/women-feed-the-world
https://www.navdanya.org/site/eco-feminism/the-earth-rising,-women-rising
