Introduction

This report presents the experiences of a process of weaving the pluriverse called 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). GTA is an initiative seeking to create solidarity networks and strategic alliances amongst radical alternatives on local, regional and the global levels. It locates itself in or helps initiate interactions among alternatives to the destructive hegemonic system. GTA has been working to create spaces of collaboration and exchange, in order to learn about and from each other, critically but constructively challenge each other, offer active solidarity to each other whenever needed, interweave the initiatives in common actions, and give them visibility to inspire other people to create their own initiatives. It seeks to facilitate people seeking transformative change, hopefully eventually converging into a critical mass of alternative ways that can support the conditions for the radical systemic changes we need.

The report traces the history and experiences of the GTA process, drawing from in- depth reflections from the GTA facilitation team as well as contributions from Weavers and Endorsers to the process. This is grounded in community and activist articulations of what radical alternatives and a pluriverse are. The authors, as members of the GTA facilitation team, share the findings and process to bring the voices from the global south/ majority world together in both conceptualising the polycrisis and responding to it. As an on-going experimental and organically developing process, the GTA offers lessons from an effort to co-develop an inclusive and dynamic knowledge and praxis of progressive alternatives. We highlight the struggle of pluriversal transition from, for example, different cosmologies or understandings of alternatives to the mundane and practical elements of language and time zones. The GTA continues to develop and grow as a result of the opportunities that are constantly present and these are highlighted such as the profound human connection; solidarity and will to build a global commonist project.

Credits

This document has been coordinated and put together by Shrishtee Bajpai and Vasna Ramasar with inputs from Ashish Kothari, Franco Augusto and Madhuresh Kumar.

We are grateful to Omega Resilience Awards for providing financial support for putting the report together.

Design and Layout by: Naveed Dadan

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