ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the possibilities and difficulties of a new kind of democracy for sustainable and inclusive development. Politics of relations differs from politics of emancipation, which aims to achieve political freedom for all citizens, and from politics of demand, which calls for redistribution of state resources by communities. Politics of relations focuses on how to deal with the relationships between people belonging to different social groups and how to manage the relationship between humans and nature in the context of economic development, democratic governance, and the maintenance of sustainable livelihoods. In the early years of independent India, parliamentary politics were in the hands of elites who were elected to represent the people. The chapter provides a brief introduction to the Niyamgiri Hills. The biodiversity of the Niyamgiri Hills is also supported by the people who live there.
