The world is going through multiple, inter-secting crises of unprecedented global scale: deepening inequalities, increasing deprivation in old and new forms, the destruction of ecosystems, catastrophic climate change, ruptures in socio-cultural fabrics, war and genocide, and the violent dispossession of living beings. 

However, there is an increasing emergence and visibility of an immense range of resistance movements against the dominant regime that have engendered these crises, contesting its roots in capitalist, patriarchal, racist, statist, hypernationalist, and anthropocentric forces. There is also a large variety of radical transformative alternatives to them, which are perhaps not as visible.

GTA organic structure visual representation (click here for interactive version)

AlternativesAre activities and initiatives, concepts, worldviews, or action proposals by collectives, groups, organizations, communities, or social movements challenging and replacing the dominant system that perpetuates inequality, exploitation, and unsustainabiity. In the GTA we focus primarily on what we call "radical or transformative alternatives", which we define as initiatives that are attempting to break with the dominant system and take paths towards direct and radical forms of political and economic democracy, localised self-reliance, social justice and equity, cultural and knowledge diversity, and ecological resilience. Their locus is neither the State nor the capitalist economy. They are advancing in the process of dismantling most forms of hierarchies, assuming the principles of sufficiency, autonomy, non-violence, justice and equality, solidarity, and the caring of life and the Earth. They do this in an integral way, not limited to a single aspect of life. Although such initiatives may have some kind of link with capitalist markets and the State, they prioritize their autonomy to avoid significant dependency on them and tend to reduce, as much as possible, any relationship with them. are existing or still-to-come activities and initiatives, concepts, worldviews, or action proposals by collectives, groups, organizations, communities, or social movements, that are attempting to break with the dominant system and take paths towards direct and radical forms of political and economic democracy, localised self-reliance, social justice and equity, cultural and knowledge diversity, and ecological resilience. Their locus is neither the State nor the capitalist economy. They are advancing in the process of dismantling most or all forms of hierarchy, assuming the principles of sufficiency, autonomy, non-violence, justice and equality, solidarity, and the caring of life and the Earth. They do this in an integral way, not limited to a single aspect of life. Although such initiatives may have some kind of link with capitalist markets and the State, they prioritize their autonomy to avoid significant dependency on them and tend to reduce, as much as possible, any relationship with them. There is no one alternative, but rather a pluriverse of them, each unique, but all committed to the above principles.

These alternatives range from initiatives with a specific focus like sustainable and holistic agriculture, community led water/energy/food sovereignty, solidarity and sharing economies, worker control of production facilities, resource/knowledge commons, respect for and rights of nature, and inter-ethnic peace and harmony, to more holistic or rounded transformations such as those being attempted by the Zapatista in Chiapas and the Kurds in Rojava. Alternatives also include the revival of ancient traditions and the emergence of new worldviews that re-establish humanity’s place within nature, as a basis for human dignity and equality. Alternatives to the nation-states and the imperialist alliances are being explored in the forms of democratic federalism or alternative regionalism and bio-regionalism, cutting across the human-made borders and boundaries. There is no one alternative, but a pluriverse of them, each unique, yet all aiming for just worlds.

The Global TapestryThe weaving of networks of Alternatives of Alternatives (GTAGlobal Tapestry of Alternatives) is a process, launched in 2019, seeking to create solidarity networks and strategic alliances amongst all these existing and emerging alternatives on local, regional and global levels. It locates itself in connecting and nurturing interactions, learning experiences and collaborations among alternatives. It operates through varied and light structures, defined in each space, that are horizontal, democratic, inclusive and distributed, using diverse local languages and multiple ways of communicating. The initiative has no central structure or control mechanisms, but aspires to horizontal, democratic and grounded functioning. Importantly, GTA is grounded in the concepts and practice of Indigenous peoples and other local communities and collectives.

GTA spreads step by step as an ever-expanding, complex set of tapestries, woven together by already existing communal or collective webs, building on already existing and new alternatives to dominant regimes. It promotes or joins regional, national and global encounters, when the conditions allow for them, as well as close and synergistic linkages with existing organizations, like the World Social Forum.

A Global Tapestry of Alternatives is about creating spaces of collaboration and exchange, in order to learn about and from each other, critically but constructively challenging each other, offering active solidarity to each other whenever needed, interweaving the initiatives in common actions, and give them visibility to inspire other people to create their own initiatives. It could facilitate people or processes seeking transformative change going further along existing paths or forging new ones that strengthen alternatives wherever they are, hopefully eventually converging into a critical mass of alternative ways can support the conditions for the radical systemic changes we need.

A small group of persons from several regions of the world grounded in weaving alternatives in their respective regions, started the initiative, and continues to be its Facilitation Team. As one crucial component of the process, it identifies and supports Weavers ¹⁾ across the world. A growing set of Endorsers ²⁾ helps link the GTA with similar initiatives around the world. All these constituents come together in the GTA Assembly, a recurrent space devoted to relationship building and collective decision making.

• Our definitions document, contains some brief and clear explanation of the central concepts used in the context of the GTA.
• Definition of common criteria for the weaving of Alternatives
• One pager about GTA
• Announcements

Credits: Franco Augusto

Credits: Marco Andrade; Franco Augusto