Annual theme “Excess“
Interdisciplinary Lecture Series (WS 2019/20)

20 November 2019

Excess as Capitalist Principle

Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva is a physicist, environmental activist, and author. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, is author of over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals; she has also published more than 20 books, including Making Peace With The Earth (Pluto Press, 2013) and Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature & Knowledge (South End Press, 1999). Shiva participated in the nonviolent Chipko movement during the 1970s. The movement, whose main participants were women, adopted the tactic of hugging trees to prevent their felling. She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin, et al.), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement. She has argued for the wisdom of many traditional practices, as is evident from her interview in the book Vedic Ecology (by Ranchor Prime, 2002) that draws upon India’s Vedic heritage. In 1993, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the alternative Nobel Peace Prize.