Democratic Transformation in Decolonial Contexts: Environmental and Developmental Justice in an Era of Global Democratic Backsliding

Dear Colleagues,

Democratic transformation in the Global South is unfolding at a historical moment marked by profound political uncertainty and intensifying global democratic regression. Across postcolonial societies, long-standing structural inequalities rooted in colonial domination continue to shape political participation, state capacity, and development trajectories. At the same time, recent developments in established democracies have destabilized the normative authority of liberal democratic models, generating new pressures and contradictions for democratic governance worldwide.

In particular, the resurgence of exclusionary nationalism, executive overreach, and institutional erosion associated with the Trump era in the United States has had consequences that extend well beyond domestic politics. These dynamics have weakened global democratic norms, emboldened authoritarian and illiberal actors, and disrupted international commitments to human rights, environmental protection, and multilateral development cooperation. For societies in the Global South, where democratic institutions are often fragile and deeply entangled with postcolonial power relations, such global shifts have intensified existing challenges while reshaping the terms under which democracy, development, and justice are pursued.

Decolonial scholarship offers critical tools for understanding these transformations by questioning Eurocentric assumptions about democracy, governance, and progress. From this perspective, democracy cannot be reduced to procedural institutions or electoral competition alone. Rather, it must be understood as a contested social process shaped by struggles over land, labor, resources, knowledge, and environmental futures. Environmental and developmental justice occupy a central position within these struggles, as extractive economic models, climate vulnerability, and unequal development continue to disproportionately affect marginalized populations.

This Special Issue seeks to advance interdisciplinary and critical debates on democratic transformation in decolonial contexts by situating local and regional experiences within broader global political shifts. It invites contributions that examine how contemporary democratic backsliding in the Global North intersects with postcolonial governance challenges in the Global South, and how these interactions influence environmental governance, development policy, and social justice claims. Particular attention is encouraged to the ways in which marginalized actors engage democratic processes, articulate alternative political imaginaries, and respond to both domestic and transnational forms of power.

We welcome original research articles, review papers, and conceptual contributions that engage with contemporary and unfolding challenges in democratic governance, including but not limited to the following interrelated themes:

• Democratic transformation and governance in postcolonial and decolonial contexts
• Environmental justice, climate politics, and resource governance in the Global South
• Decolonial approaches to development, sustainability, and political participation
• Social movements, grassroots activism, and alternative democratic practices
• State, non-state, and transnational actors in shaping environmental and developmental outcomes
• Inequality, citizenship, and inclusion in democratic processes
• Knowledge production, indigenous epistemologies, and democratic legitimacy

Best wishes,

Dr. Hafte Gebreselassie Gebrihet
Guest Editor

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• democratic backsliding
• decolonial governance
• environmental justice
• developmental inequality
• global south politics
• illiberal populism
• climate governance
• political inclusion
• knowledge and power
• democratic resilience