Is the Auroville economy ready for a post-fossil fuel, post-climate crisis era?

The short answer I believe is, ‘no’. The long answer will take 500 words more. To start with, we need to define “economy” as not just counting coins, but running our collective household (“oikos” – the root of the words eco-nomy and eco-logy). In this case, we can’t rely on our current model of using income from tourism, foreign remittances and government grants to fund individualistic lifestyles. Instead we will need to re-focus on the foundations of human life: clean water, food, health care, resilient social relations, and trust. All of these are dwindling in Auroville, or at best stagnant. 

Water tables are sinking fast and aquifers are turning salty. The groups concerned can’t see eye-to-eye which makes it unlikely we will swiftly shift to catching and using the only other source: rainwater. 

Food security has not been a priority in the last decade. In 2010 we grew 15% of our food. Today we don’t know our level of food sufficiency because nobody measures it. 

For serious health issues we rely on private hospitals and commercial pharmaceuticals, but at least we have a forest full of medicinal plants, so we might survive if we learn how to use those in time. 

Once the physical body is taken care of, the remaining needs depend on “community”. This word has all but lost its meaning in Auroville for we tend to call everything by this term, from practical neighbourhoods to political vote banks to collective purpose and identity. 

What we will need to both enjoy each others’ company and to troubleshoot our way through the unknown is trust. In previous months we have seen what could be a fire drill – a preparatory crisis inflicted by a vindictive lawsuit and a suspicious Governing Board. If our response to this is anything to go by, we are far, far away from accessing goodwill and solidarity as a source of strength. Official bodies don’t trust residents nor each other, leading to imposed and superfluous regulation, which in turn leads to resentment and loss of trust. The doctrine of not involving police in community disputes has been abandoned. When put under stress we seem to communicate less, not more. And again, we don’t know how far removed we have become from each other because nobody is documenting it.

All in all, the future looks bleak for Auroville’s economy, and it has nothing to do with markets, money or manpower. If we are to adapt our utopian experiment to a dystopian future we will need to shift our attention and start collectively acknowledging, tracking, nudging and nurturing non-financial types of capital (i.e. natural, physical, social, cultural, knowledge, experiential, spiritual). Sometimes it takes a shock to the system to muster the courage to shed the old familiar ways of management. Maybe it’s time for another cyclone or a virus?