Governing the Planetary? Democratic Innovations in Latin America

Democratic innovations allow for the direct involvement of lay citizens, for instance, in climate governance. Latin America, where these approaches have multiplied, offers a compelling context to examine to what extent they help face the interrelated challenges that characterise the Anthropocene, and the resulting planetary condition. We discuss three types of democratic innovations, based on intermediation, deliberation, and mobilisation. They aim to manage the conditions for life, seek the consent of affected communities for the continuation of the planetary condition, or counter its causes and effects. We argue that the limits and ambiguities of these innovations are better understood through historically grounded challenges to the concept of the Anthropocene. In particular, the Plantationocene foregrounds colonial and extractive histories that constrain political action. Democratic innovations alone cannot undo systemic trajectories of exploitation and inequality; historicised and politically anchored lenses such as the Plantationocene better shed light on how they also operate as counter-hegemonic struggles for justice, sovereignty, and habitability.