ABSTRACT
In an emerging polarized world economy, there has been a huge concentration of resources at the hands of a few while deprivation has pushed a large section of people to the margin to a phenomenal extent. It is precisely this that provides the context for seeking an alternative paradigm for development that could reverse the process of devastating inhuman conditions of marginalized section of people. The growing global resistance has been forcing the wheel of change to take a turn, giving one enough reason to seek in such a situation an alternative paradigm for development and change. The chapter shows that conservation of common property resources by people together at the local level creates positive externalities leading to dismantling existing power relations. As a result, the unequal distribution of resources has ceased to exist, sharing the developmental gains more equally. This experiment within the framework of consequentialism exhibits how the powerless can sustain their livelihood by way of defying the regressive forces of changes and creating a space for all to improve their living conditions together based on the principle of solidarity.
