Acceptance governance

Abstract

There is a form of power whereby the moral relationship governs those who are part of, or affected by, the relationship. Called “acceptance governance,” it develops “power-with" in a decolonial manner, reframing agency as guided by accountability. Power-with leads to minimal moral relations between worlds out of which processes of acceptance build justice and right relations from the bottom up. There are two senses of acceptance, however, the second being accepting the conditions of acceptance. Power-with then becomes grounded in “power from,” a new form of power uncommon in the literature. In addition to cohering with a number of indigenous traditions as well as with ecological versions of civic republicanism, acceptance governance provides one way to internalize ecological reflexivity within norms of planetary governance and contributes to our analysis of institutional and personal capacities for participation, knowing, and healing from injustice common to significant strands of ESG research today.