[PeDAGoG] GTA] WEAVING ALTERNATIVES #09: Social Movements and Radical Alternatives

Fri Dec 9 15:12:32 CET 2022

Dear all,
This recent periodical on social movements and radical alternatives might
be of interest. Contributors share experiences from  Colombia, Argentina,
India, Kurdistan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Timor Leste.

sorry for any cross-posting

regards,

WEAVING ALTERNATIVES #09:
A periodical of the Global Tapestry of Alternatives

*SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND RADICAL ALTERNATIVES*

*The contents of this periodical are also available online on this webpage
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:index>.*

Editorial

Dear readers,

This 9th GTA periodical intends to explore narratives, reflections, debates
and ruminations around systemic alternatives in the social movement spaces.
We are today living in a world of profound crisis but also a world in
profound flux, with major and sometimes dramatic movements erupting all
over the world responding to the crises, and sometimes seeming to sweep
history aside. With historical factors deeply embedded in these movements
and processes across the world, they are trying to challenge the dominant
systems of oppression and offer new politics … or even sustain old but
still relevant politics in a new context. These movements at some points
are linear (emerging through a specific crisis), at others non-linear
spontaneous, often ‘local’ or regional but globally situated and impactful,
manifested both in form of resistance and constructive alternatives at
ground. We understand that social movements are a vast subject, hence we
certainly have not been able to cover all the relevant aspects, but we do
hope that the contributions in this issue will serve as a starting point to
dive deeper.

GTA’s attempt at putting this issue together emerges from our continued
engagement in dialogues with other social movements and global mobilisation
attempting systemic, fundamental transformations towards justice. In our
experience, it is crucial to be in constant dialogue to find crucial paths
in the long term, outside of the colonial mindset, towards systemic
alternatives. Our theme has a specific focus on alternatives, because for
GTA, the role of social movements' is as important in constructing
alternatives as in resistance against systems oppression (and we recognise
that sometimes, the two are the same!). Rather than offering ‘a theory of
change’ to capitalism, anthropocentrism, patriarchy, statism, racism, among
others, social movements need to offer a ‘pluriverse’ of alternatives to
these crises. This could only be possible if social movements are
self-reflecting in their process of emergence, change, internal democracy,
and what new (or renewed) forms of politics they can offer by being
grounded in everyday struggles. Our contributions from Colombia, Argentina,
India, Kurdistan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Timor Leste explore several
questions relevant to the above.

Our contributors explore the limitations of theoretical frameworks for
protest and social movements to deeply understand the emergent horizontal
and prefigurative practices that are emerging from communities organising
from below. They bring out the learnings emerging from the grassroots
experiences of movements challenging the concentration of state power (or
the notion of the state itself), patriarchy, colonialism, and capitalism.
They highlight key insights emerging from the movement spaces engaging with
state-power such as left governments in Latin America and the need for
social movements to strengthen their autonomous capacity to construct
grassroots transformative processes. Our contributors explore the role of
grounded movements on regionalism and transnationalism from below that can
challenge the dominant elite-centered and oligarchic regionalism. By
highlighting the issues of old socialist and leftist theories that very
often are dogmatic and see only one way while rejecting others, the
contributors speak to the idea of being grounded in creating real
alternatives. They raise questions like: what could be the process of
common envisioning among these radical processes and transitional movements
that can transform the systems at local to global level? How do we combine
resistances and alternatives in social movements spaces to effectively
challenge growing fascism, and move towards emancipatory/radical democracy?
What special role are women, youth, indigenous peoples, and other
marginalised sections playing in such movements?

We are thankful to all our contributors, who have shared their wisdom,
embedded in grounded experiences, through these essays.

This periodical also features updates from our weavers in India (Vikalp
Sangam) and Mexico (Crianza Mutua), Colombia (Crianzas Mutuas), and
South-East Asia (MASSA) along with updates from endorsing networks.

This periodical is put together with the collaborative efforts of Shrishtee
Bajpai, Martin Aplaneta, Franco Augusto and Urvi Shah. We invite you to
engage, reflect and dialogue on these ideas. We see it as a start to a
long-term process of knowing each others' work, engaging with ideas,
facilitating collaborations and initiating co-writing, co-learning and
dialogical processes, all of this helping, in a humble way, in the
mobilisation needed to transform our societies.

Updates from the GTA

*GTA Webinars:*

The aim of GTA webinars is to collaborate and bring out new ideas from
within the network to anchor discussions on radical transformative
practices. Recently, “Cosmopolitical Learning: Some reflections on Praxis”
brought together friends affiliated with the Enlivened Cooperative who have
been engaging in what we have been referring to as cosmopolitical learning.
This refers to the practice of learning with, in between, across and beyond
distinct ontologies, especially alongside indigenous teachers and in/from
place. Cosmopolitics brings into focus how non-human actors, such as
mountains, forests, rivers and others are also subjects and political
beings who ought to be included into the constitutional arrangements of how
we order our world. In this seminar were shared experiences from Mexico,
Peru, Hawai’i, New Zealand and the US that engage with these practices. The
recording to this session can be found here
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:webinars:2022:learning:04>
.

*GTA Assembly:*

The GTA Assembly is held every 3 months to introduce new members, follow up
on updates and discuss upcoming plans. The 5th GTA Assembly took place on
3rd October 2022. The recording and report can be found here
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:assembly:2022_10_03>
.

*GTA Mapping:*

GTA Mapping is a process to chart out all endorsers and weavers in a
digital web space according to their geographical locations, while also
making the process participatory. Next in action is to get endorsers on
board to use the web space for updates and information management. You can
access the Beta version of the mapping platform in this link
<https://map.globaltapestryofalternatives.org/>.

*PeDAGoG:*

PeDAGoG <https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:pedagog>
(Post-Development Academic-Activist Global Group) is a global network of
academics and academic activists interested in post-development, radical
alternatives, and related themes. This group, along with This webinar
series is co-organised by Ecoversities <https://ecoversities.org/>, Educere
Alliance <https://www.educerealliance.org/>, Global Tapestry of Alternatives
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/>, PeDAGoG
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/pedagog>, Radical Ecological
Democracy <https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/>, The Alternatives
Project <https://thealternativesproject.org/> and Wellbeing Economy Alliance
<https://weall.org/>.

A webinar by Mauricio, Arturo, Wendy and Juan on Unitierra’s processes was
conducted on the 8th of July. Find the recording here
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:webinars:2022:learning:03>
.

More recently the same group organized a session entitled “Cosmopolitical
learning: some reflections on praxis”, conducted by members of the Enlivened
Cooperative <https://enlivenedcooperative.org/>. The details and recording
can be found in this webpage
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:webinars:2022:learning:04>
.
Updates from our Weavers

The Global Tapestry of Alternatives is a “network of networks”. Each of
those networks acts in different parts of the planet by identifying and
connecting Alternatives. They are the Weavers. The following are the
networks that currently weaves the GTA. In the following section, our
Weavers from India, Colombia and Mexico shares updates from their recent
activities and actions.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:weavers>*
Updates from our Endorsers
Deep Commons Conference: Update and reflection by Anitra Nelson

A Deep Commons conference took place wholly online on 27–29 October. The
key theme was Cultivating Ecologies of Solidarity and Care beyond
Capitalism, Patriarchy, Racism and the State. The conference was hosted by
the Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork,
Ireland, and La Terre Institute for Community and Ecology, Mississippi, US.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:tap>*
POST Growth Institute

*By Natalie Holmes*

In a recent article by Post Growth Fellow, Zoljargal Mendbayar, about
impact investing in Native communities; based on her research, Zoljargal
explains how Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)
can contribute to Indigenous goals of sovereignty and self-determination,
despite operating within a settler colonial system.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:post_growth_institute>*

The New Colombian Government and the Planetary Challenges

*by Lina Alvarez and Arturo Escobar*

The election of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez as president and
vice-president of Colombia on June 18 of this year, and sworn into office
on August 7, constituted a watershed in Colombian history in multiple ways.
In a country mired in the intense, decades-long social conflict caused by
staggering inequality and political violence, that erupted in massive
protests in 2019 and 2021, bringing the country to a standstill; the new
government represents an unprecedented hope for many in several vital ways.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:prefigurative_societies_in_movement>*
Can digital movements really move the status quo?

*by Yash Marwah*

“Tweet” “Tweet” “Tweet” BOOM. The world changes.

More often than not, some people want to believe this is how ‘digital
movements’ work: That an idea brews in some minds, they tweet about it, and
the world comes rallying behind.

While it sounds safe to believe, that is just not how it works.

There are 2 kinds of digital movements that I have been a part of. Those
that were born digitally, and others that project whatever is happening
offline onto the virtual world. Yes, there are spurts of serendipity when
just a hashtag can shake the world but most successful “digital” movements
have had months of on-ground work to make them impactful. Right from
thinking, planning, strategising, organising, to executing, everything is
mostly in the physical world. Hence, ‘digital’ is just a medium. I will try
and talk about this aspect of digital activism.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:yash>*
Prefigurative Societies in Movement

*by Marina Sitrin and Christine Dann*

Something new is happening – something new in content, depth, breadth and
global consistency. Societies around the world are in movement. Since the
early 1990s millions of people have been organizing similarly, and in ways
that defy definitions and former ways of understanding social movements,
protest and resistance. There is a growing global movement of refusal – and
simultaneously, in that refusal is a creative movement. Millions are
shouting No!, as they manifest alternatives in its wake.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:collaboration>*

Grassroots democracy and peoples' alternative practices in Southeast Asia

*by Dr. Eduardo C. Tadem*

Discourses on practices of grassroots democracy often focus on modes of
popular participation centered on institutional avenues such as elections
and local governance issues dealing with decentralization, devolution, and
local autonomy (Mohanty 2007, 15–32). At the local level, consequent
interests are on “restraining arbitrary and corrupt official behavior and
enhancing the accountability of grassroots authorities” (Perry and Goldman
2007, 1).

In the political arena where countervailing forces operate, grassroots
democracy is often related to social movements and peoples’ organizations
intervening in the political process through advocacies and campaigns on
regime and systems change and/or devising strategies and practices that
engage with the state. For instance, farmers and rural poor in Northeast
Thailand “assert their rights and demand state compensations” and engage in
“direct actions towards the state (and) press their demands for corrective
action” (Prasartset 2004, 140).

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:rivers>*

North East Syria: an example of a revolution

*By Civil Diplomacy Center – North and East Syria*

On the 19th of July 2012, a revolution took place in North and East Syria.
A revolution based on real democracy, inclusion of people of all
ethnicities and religions, ecology and the freedom of women. With all its
shortcomings, this revolution shows that an alternative beyond the state
and patriarchy is possible. Stating this does not mean that patriarchy,
capitalism and the state have been overcome 100 percent. However, attempts
are being made to build structures which make it possible for people to
organise their lives and find strength to struggle on a daily basis against
the mentality of state, capitalism and patriarchy.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:anitra>*
Some characteristics of peoples/societies in movement

*By Raúl Zibechi*

During the last months of 2019, social outbursts and uprisings took place
in several countries, including Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Haiti, Bolivia
and Nicaragua. In Brazil and Argentina there had already been huge
mobilisations, in 2013 in the former and in 2017 in the latter. In all
cases, neoliberal extractive policies have been in the crosshairs of
collective action, whether under right-wing or left-wing, conservative or
progressive governments.

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:social_movements>*
Book summary: Life after Progress- Essays by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Alex
Jensen and more

In The Economic Journal in 1960, professor of economics J.L. Sadie
explained that, for the development of traditional societies, “Unhappiness
and discontentment in the sense of wanting more than is obtainable at any
moment is to be generated. The suffering and dislocation that may be caused
in the process may be objectionable, but it appears to be the price that
has to be paid for economic development; the condition of economic
progress.”1)
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:index#fn__1>

*Keep reading ->
<https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/newsletters:09:book_summary>*

*Thank you for reading!*
*Global Tapestry of Alternatives*
*contact at globaltapestryofalternatives.org
<contact at globaltapestryofalternatives.org>*

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Shrishtee Bajpai
Kalpavriksh <http://kalpavriksh.org> / Vikalp Sangam
<http://www.vikalpsangam.org>/ Global Tapestry of Alternatives
<http://www.globaltapestryofalternatives.org>/ Global Alliance for the
Rights of Nature  <https://www.garn.org>

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