Introduction

The second in-person Assembly of the Global TapestryThe weaving of networks of Alternatives of 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. (GTAGlobal Tapestry of Alternatives) took place in Bandung, Indonesia, from 12–17 April 2026, hosted at Imah Seniman with the support of Konfederasi Pergerakan Rakyat Indonesia (KPRI) and our Southeast Asia weaver MASSA (Movement for Alternatives and Solidarity in South-East Asia). The Assembly was conceived as a moment to gather and reweave the many threads that have continued to grow across GTA since the first in-person Assembly in Kenya: thematic group meetings, online dialogues and webinars, mapping processes, regional gatherings, work around the Periodical, and ongoing collaborations among weavers, endorsers, working groups, and allied networks. It was also envisioned as a space to collectively reflect on the role of the Assembly itself as a key site of encounter, political exchange, and shared orientation within GTA. Bringing together around seventy participants from a wide range of communities, grassroots organizations, social movements, collectives, and networks across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and West Asia, the Bandung Assembly reflected the geographic breadth, political diversity, and pluriversal character of the GTA process.

The Assembly unfolded through plenaries, small-group discussions, thematic exchanges, and a field visit to local grassroots initiatives and community alternatives in West Java. Across these spaces, participants shared experiences of territorial defence, radical democracy, autonomy, solidarity economies, food and water sovereignty, care, healing, community education, and struggles for the rights of nature and more-than-human worlds. The discussions that follow in this report emerge from that encounter: from the relationships woven in Bandung, from the urgencies collectively named there, and from the commitment to continue strengthening the GTA as a living infrastructure of solidarity, political imagination, and grounded alternatives across territories.

Credits

This report has been compiled and edited by Afra Mika AM, Beatriz von Saenger Hernández, Franco Augusto, Xóchitl Leyva, Alex Jensen, Madhuresh Kumar, Ashish Kothari, Ryan Martínez, Raquel Castillo, Shail Sathi, Halwest Karim, Vasna Ramasar, and comrades from KPRI. The contribution of several note-takers, interpreters, and all participants is acknowledged.

Photographs: taken by participants and the documentation team throughout the Assembly.

Design and layout: Beatriz von Saenger Hernández

Cover: Franco Augusto

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