Sixty of us from 25 countries stood under the sacred tree where the famous Mau Mau rebellion against the British took place from 1952-1960 arguing for land, freedom and self governance in Eastern Kenya. We were at Bantu Mountain Lodge in Nanyuki, Kenya for the first general assembly of the Global Tapestry of Alternatives (GTAGlobal Tapestry of Alternatives). A process seeded in 2019 after series of international & regional dialogues to visibilise the emergence of an immense variety of radical alternatives to the dominant regime, contesting its roots in capitalist, patriarchal, racist, statist, and anthropocentric forces.

Picture Credits: Shrishtee Bajpai

Standing under the strangler fig tree that is revered in traditions across the African, Indian subcontinent, and South-East Asia, we were reminded of our collective emergence, worldviews that bind us and celebrate life and our struggles. Elders from the Kikuyu and Tharaka indigenous communities performed rituals seeking the blessings of Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya) in the foothills of whom we stood. In a world filled with rapid ignorance of celebration of more-than human and sacredness, the rituals reminded us of our groundedness. The dance of sunbirds on bottlebrush trees reminded us of the inexplicable beauty of nature and the presence of white and black colobus monkeys reminded us of our shared existence on this earth.

Over the course of 6 days, people from communities, networks, organisations, universities from South Asia, South-East-Asia, Middle-east, Africa, Europe, Latin America, North-America gathered to share experiences of weaving alternatives against oppressive systems and what it means to move forward with our collective struggles and visions for future. For several communities at the frontlines, resisting extractivism in their lands and forests is part of everyday existence and survival. But also of celebration and many are articulating the visions of a post-extractive society. These expressions are threading possibilities of defining life and wellbeing beyond capitalist modernity.

Picture Credits: Alex Jensen

GTA is a network of networks and each of those networks in different parts of the planet are documenting, identifying, connecting and weaving a tapestry of alternatives, hence they are our weavers . GTA emerged from the experiences Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence) in India and subsequently, Crianza Mutua in Mexico, Crianzas Mútuas Colombia and Movement for Alternatives and Solidarity in Southeast Asia. Just like when weaving a basket, a strand starts from the ‘bottom’ going upwards and each getting strengthened when tied together- GTA believes in learning from the grassroots, bringing the movements together to strengthen each other, learn together, and create horizontal weaving processes.

The gathering was filled with rituals, ceremonies, and celebrations, sharing processes of alternatives from India, Mexico, Colombia, and South-East Asia (Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Vietnam) shared their visions of alternatives and how they are weaving in their regions. Many shared from the personal struggles of distress among activists, academics, community members, researchers and others of how little attention is being paid to the proactive responses to the multiple crises the world faces—ecological, socio-cultural, political, economic, spiritual. These networks emerge also from the space of resurgence and hope that these responses to the crises can possibly dismantle the systems of oppression, and create or sustain alternatives to them. These are not big organisations or famous groups but rather small community initiatives trying to imagine life beyond the current crises, finding or sustaining ways of eating, learning, healing, organising, and sustaining in autonomous ways. Each of these weavers building on many visions of alternatives are rooted in common values and principles of care and respect for life, respecting horizontality, celebrating communal life, fostering direct & radical forms of democracy, celebrating enoughness, knowledge democracy, and rejecting sexism/patriarchy among others.

Several of endorsing networks of GTA such as the African Biodiversity Network, WOMIN, African Food Sovereignty Alliance, Academy of Democratic Modernity, Jineology, ECOLISE, and Indigenous Community Conserved Areas (ICCA) Consortium and others shared how in powerful ways they are networking within regions on alternatives. Exploring alternatives through bicultural diversity and centring the knowledge of indigenous peoples, elders and involving the youth and women. An important element of the African Biodiversity network is to remember the past, reviewing the present and envisioning the future by creating ancestral maps. For the African Food Sovereignty Alliance, the focus is not just on ensuring food but rather ensuring the control on food because the agro-ecology movement is a social justice movement. At present, Territories of Life (community conserved areas) spread over 15% of the world beyond protected areas, however, very few national governments recognise this community-led, indigenous peoples protection, conservation and governance models. ICCA consortium is trying to visibilise these by building community learning & solidarity exchanges, and refusing to become a labour force or make nature a raw material. ECOLISE in the heart of modern capitalist societies i.e. Europe, is trying to catalyse and connect community led movements working towards ecosocial and just transitions.

For the Kurdish movement unfolding in between the most violent regions of the world and amidst continued state repression and violence- life, women, nature and freedom is at the centre. Jineology- Jin- woman, loji science, Jiyan -life is science of women, a language of ethics and aesthetics based on overcoming sexism and patriarchy and strengthening the alternative way of being to overcome colonisation. Through this they aim to question capitalist modernity and positivist science. Rojava- an autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is building a new vision of democracy based on democratic confederalism rooting itself in Jineology.

The cross-fertilisation and exchanges of many of these processes across the world was affirmative of work of building from ‘below’, from global south and from community processes wherever they are. We reflected on several themes like experiments on radical democracy, alternative pedagogies, alternative healing, food sovereignty, peace and conflict resolution to share experiences from ground but also to see how we move forward. Many of these discussions posed several reflections on how we move forward with transformations and what it means to come together. What will movements and solidarity actions look like? How we continue to build tapestry and strengthen each other.

Of course, these questions will continue to guide us. Essentially, there is hope in people protecting the sacred, growing our own food, deschooling ourselves, telling stories, taking control over decision making, exchanging beyond market control, celebrating diversity and defining wellbeing of what affirms life. In many ways, the assembly tried embodying many of these by making some time for cooking together, weaving a tapestry, singing songs of liberation, dancing to diversity, connecting to the place and visiting local communities to learn from their practices among others. The program of the assembly was collectively discussed during the online assembly meetings and gave adequate space to weavers building & weaving alternatives. The assembly was co-held and modifications to the program were made based on inputs from the participants, building enough space for deep reflections, informal interactions, small groups, celebrations, and other ways of organising.

Picture Credits: Franco Augusto

4 days of discussions were followed by community visits to Tharaka Territory or traditionally known as Nthiguru iri Njuki (The Land of the Bees) who are reviving their rituals, ceremonies, and traditional governance to cope with the systemic crises; in turn revealing the resilience and strength of traditional knowledge systems and practices. The Society for Alternative Learning and Transformation (SALT) who facilitated the local organising of the assembly has been working with the community working with cosmovision of “Umuntu”- meaning humanity towards the others. The second community participants visited was the Il Ngwesi, where communities are running their own community conservancy by protecting their wildlife, creating eco-based tourism, and generating localised sustainable livelihoods. The assembly members had celebratory interactions with the communities as we were welcomed with traditional dance and singing but possibly the most emotional moment was the sharing by Afro-colombian members from Crianzas Mutuas Colombia who shared about being moved coming to the land where their ancestors were taken away as slaves. It was like homecoming!

Several communities are facing immense challenges in keeping their worldviews and ways of being alive. These alternatives are reasserting care for the rest of nature as a way of asserting to survive as autonomous entities who have control and voice over what happens in their territories. The current assault is resulting in assimilation, co-option, and thus denuding people of their cultural autonomy, history, and spiritual moorings. The pertinent question being asked is: How can we consolidate ourselves to respond to these challenges along with building processes of solidarity, sharing, and networking on grounded alternatives to extractivism, climate change, authoritarianism, patriarchy, capitalism among others?