Hello all I am doing the U.Lab MOOC <https://courses.edx.org/courses/MITx/15.S23x/3T2014/info> at the moment and this immersion is providing some very interesting lenses on a lot of what I am seeing...
For instance, the personal-collective integrative process is central to Theory U, so the theory provides a good context for understanding it (especially for someone who has so far avoided Integral with a fair degree of emotional resistance). So, I thought I might flag that (as a potentially useful tangent), and also flag that I am interested in any comments that others might have about the applicability (or not) of Theory U in this sort of issue... Would love to explore! Cheers *John Baxter* *Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator* jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> | CoCreateADL.com 0405 447 829 | @jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_> *Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about City Grill!* *Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/ <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/>* On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 5:01 PM, P2P Foundation mailing list < [email protected]> wrote: > hi Anna, > > At the p2p foundation we stress personal and interpersonal change and > facilitation, but at the same time, we have to be realistic in this, what > is already possible but very difficult in small groups of committed people > may not be possible for society at large ... For understanding this, and > though I'm critical of the authoritarian interpretations of that tradition, > the integral psychology of clare graves remains fundamental .. > > Detailed studies by Susan Cook-Greuters have determined that at most 2% of > the population have integrative consciousness, with 30% more or less having > this as a aspirational consciousness .. > > I take great comfort in the growth of participative culture and skills now > evident in the new mutualized working spaces but this is far from being > the general culture .. > > Again, referring to the scheme of John Heron, I would say that for the > greater masses, we are at the potential change of stage 2 to 3, with > significant minorities at four .. > > so here is how I see it: > > * develop fully participative cultures for mature peer producing > communities > > * develop deeper participative potentialities for the aspirational parts > of the population (active citizenship) > > * embed participative process in the general social technology of our > time, to upgrade the general culture .. > > A lot then further depends on the relative positioning of scarcity vs > abundance dynamics ... > > for abundance context, the generalization of peer governance is very > realistic > > for scarcity contexts, the choice between hierarchical, > democratic-representative, and market-driven allocation mechanisms remains > entirely open > > see for example how the wikipedia re-introduced a rather toxic bureaucracy > by re-introducing artificial scarcity ... (notability requirements to be > decide by elite editors) > > just today, I am involved in a frustrating dialogue with a feminist > activist who did not even want to share even excerpts of her book on > 'moneyless living' .. in other words, she is creating a artificial scarcity > of her own book, that is technically freely copyable, in order to 'swap' it > in exchange for something else ... reproducing the artificial scarcities > in so-called advanced milieus ... moneyless living for those that have the > money to buy it .. > > I'm sure you can find similar contradictions in all of us, including me .. > > in conclusion, we are not ready to shed relative domination processes for > any pure egalitarianism any time soon, > > Michel > > On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 1:05 PM, Anna Harris <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Amid all the euphoria in celebrating the Greek landslide, and following >> Michel's integrative approach, the points in the article below need to be >> emphasised. We all carry within us the wounds of oppression however much we >> feel we have cast them aside, and they will surface again in the new post >> capitalist structures unless we put some focus individually and >> collectively on healing ourselves and becoming whole. >> >> 'the wounding through oppression that we all experience shows up in our >> organizing, and have permeated organizational culture except where the >> influence of feminists and others committed to transformational work has >> created a different way of creating structure, that prioritizes a strategy >> and collective struggle rooted in healing and wholeness.' >> >> Pauli Friere spoke about this in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. >> >> What does that mean? How do we do that? Often it seems there isn't time >> to go into this now, let's get into power first, then we can see to these >> issues. That's when the multitude becomes an instrument, and arguments >> between hierarchy and horizontality appear to be abstract concepts with no >> people involved. >> >> How do we become more fully human in our relationships with each other? >> What makes it particularly difficult is that there is no ready made formula >> - follow these steps and you will get there. No. This is a step into the >> unknown. But that also makes it an exciting exploration. >> >> Anna >> >> >> >> On 25 Jan 2015, at 11:38, P2P Foundation mailing list < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/andrew-willis-garc%C3%A >> 9s/another-politics%E2%80%94from-anticolonial-to-occupy >> >> *Another Politics-from anti-colonial to Occupy* >> *Chris Dixon's new book identifies four principles that underpin the >> success of transformative social movements.* >> >> Andrew Willis Garcés 7 January 2015 >> >> [This article originally appeared in* Waging Nonviolence*.] >> >> Seven years ago I worked at a tenant and worker organizing group in >> Washington, D.C. We referred to ourselves as a "movement-building" >> organization, but weren't always clear what we meant by that. One evening I >> was out door-knocking with one of our members, James, an African American >> man in his 50s. He asked me about a conference some of us had attended in >> Atlanta the previous week, the U.S. Social Forum. >> >> "What was the big theme there that stuck out to you?" he asked. >> >> It was a good question. At that moment, the DJ Unk song "Walk It Out" was >> booming from a nearby car. >> >> "Well, I was most impressed by the groups that really try to walk out >> their beliefs-connecting all the dots between racism, capitalism, even >> imperialism, and the inner work we have to do as people to overcome the >> things we've learned." >> >> I explained more about what that meant to me. >> >> He shook his head, amused. >> >> "That's a tall order!" He thought about it a little more. "When will we >> get time for all that?" >> That tall order is the subject of Chris Dixon's book* Another Politics,* >> newly released by University of California Press. The product of dozens of >> interviews conducted with community organizers over the last decade, the >> book is an excellent distillation of what Dixon calls "another politics," a >> shared political orientation that unites grassroots organizers working from >> similar principles in the United States and Canada across issue, movement, >> sector, strategy and identity. >> >> Through the interviews, he identifies four core principles that unite >> left "anti-authoritarian" organizers across different "strands" of >> struggle, transcending traditional notions of issue-based organization: >> >> . being against domination of all kinds; >> >> . prioritizing the development of new social relations and forms of >> social organization in the process of struggle; >> >> . linking struggles for improvements in people's lives to long-term >> transformative visions; and >> >> . grassroots organizing from the bottom-up. >> >> >> In regards to these different strands, he writes, "We braid them together >> as we work collectively and build relationships across politics, campaigns >> and movements: anarchist labor organizers draw on analytical frameworks >> from women of color feminism; radical queer activists use community-based >> models for dealing with violence, developed by anti-racist feminists and >> prison abolitionists." >> >> He explores how Occupy Wall Street, anti-colonial movements, and INCITE! >> Women of Color Against Violence, among other groups, have contributed to >> developing "another politics" across decades. >> >> Dixon digs even deeper, characterizing organizations practicing "another >> politics" as being explicit about their "collective refusal" of >> oppression-specifically, as incorporating "the four anti's" of : >> anti-authoritarianism; anti-capitalism; anti-oppression; and >> anti-imperialism, into their work. This left me wondering how some >> organizations might "fit" this taxonomy-what if your group has a handle on >> economic exploitation, for instance, but relies on charismatic leadership? >> >> But Dixon is nevertheless clear about organizations that he sees as >> practicing "another politics," and the book is most compelling when he >> recounts movement-building victories, like the story of Canada's multi-city >> immigrant rights group* No One is Illegal*: >> >> "In a stunning December 2007 action, some 2,000 people, largely South >> Asian, blockaded the Vancouver International Airport to stop Singh's >> impending deportation. And starting with an 'Education Not Deportation' >> campaign in 2006, NOII-Toronto launched a multi-year fight for Toronto to >> become a solidarity city, where all people can access city services >> regardless of immigration status. Organizing across sectors and services, >> they finally won in 2013." >> >> >> Dixon also uses the book to highlight "ideas rarely in writing," >> exploring dynamics of movement-building organization that don't get much >> print. For instance, he writes about the process of integrating not just >> issue lenses but our whole selves-creating community and organization that >> operates at the speed of the whole. >> >> As Dixon writes, "recognizing and deliberately fostering feelings and >> relationships as essential ingredients for transformative struggle" is >> still not a widespread practice, and he points out that this is not a new >> phenomenon, as the Black Panthers and Student Nonviolent Coordinating >> Committee also sought "to develop common expectations about how people >> should treat one another." >> >> Continuing this thread, he also counts as emergent practices among >> "another politics" practitioners, forms of organizing that affirm families >> and domestic and reproductive work simultaneously with challenging systemic >> inequity, and moving beyond an individual-focused anti-oppression politics. >> >> Dixon and the people he interviews point out that the wounding through >> oppression that we all experience shows up in our organizing, and have >> permeated organizational culture except where the influence of feminists >> and others committed to transformational work has created a different way >> of creating structure, that prioritizes a strategy and collective struggle >> rooted in healing and wholeness. This increasing focus on wholeness and >> wellness, seen in the recent popularity of integrating somatics and other >> healing disciplines into community organizing, can only make us more adept >> at building a broader and more resilient web of movements. >> >> And Dixon helps unpack the challenges unique to movement-building >> organizations, which, he says, must move towards specific victories and >> goals, while also moving through a process that creates new ways of being, >> doing and relating, that avoid replicating oppressive practices. All while >> avoiding "ruts" common to anti-authoritarian groups, like knee-jerk >> non-hierarchy, and the "burn bright, burn out" cycle of organizations that >> rise and fall quickly. >> >> Dixon illustrates this point with a fantastic metaphor offered by Project >> South's Steph Guillioud, comparing different forms of organization to >> different kinds of cars suited to particular functions: >> >> "The variations in vehicles don't change the map, they don't change the >> road, they don't change the need for people to drive and people in the back >> or the people moving it. We will always have and need the people who can >> push it and the people that can work on the insides, the people who can >> never get a ride, et cetera." >> >> >> It's rare to find a book on social movements written explicitly for >> people with less academic credentials than its author. Dixon, who wrote the >> book for a PhD program, takes care to explain terms as they come up; he >> doesn't assume we know about ethnography ("analyzing lived culture while >> experiencing it"). And he gives his interviewees plenty of airtime to put >> their own spin on, for instance, "affective organizing," which becomes "not >> being a fucking asshole," in the wonderfully succinct words of Bay Area >> activist Harjit Singh Gill. >> >> Still, the number of concepts he introduces feels overwhelming at times, >> and I longed for a glossary or flow chart when concepts like >> "non-instrumental organizing" popped up (which, it's worth noting, refers >> to the analysis and strategies people can create when they come together in >> dialogue and struggle as peers, as opposed to treating people as >> instruments to be manipulated, or pieces on a figurative chess board to >> mobilize toward a predetermined end). >> >> "Anti-authoritarian," then, could be shorthand for "principled >> organizing"-organizing that gets down to the roots, that refuses to settle >> for electing a slightly better candidate, for selling out our potential >> allies to scoop up a superficial win, or that sees the path to victory as >> anything less than the destination itself. >> >> Towards the end of the book, I was reminded of my exchange that day with >> James. Clearly, as Dixon demonstrates, there are mixed-class organizations >> that make time for individual and collective healing practices, for >> skillshares and strategy seminars, for discussion groups, for intentionally >> developing and evaluating leadership, and for developing organizational >> structure. But increasingly, as people are forced to work longer hours for >> lower incomes, I have to wonder: How are organizations adapting to support >> their people to do more with less? >> >> I longed for more detail on what day-to-day life is like for an organizer >> in the six specifically-chosen cities from which Dixon chose his interview >> subjects. What does it look like to practice "another politics" in Atlanta, >> for instance? It's worth asking, given that the book is structured around >> questions like, "How can we most productively manifest our visions through >> our organizing work?" Like a good organizing mentor, Dixon (and his >> interviewees) gives us insight without "right" answers, helping to deepen >> our understanding of commonalities and remind us of the deep roots of the >> "another politics" leftist lineage. >> >> (((((( ))))) >> >> *Andrew Willis Garcés* works with Training for Change and has led >> trainings for immigrant activists in several US states on campaign strategy >> and civil disobedience. Read more of his work at www.porvida.org/. >> _______________________________________________ >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetworkedLabour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour >> >> > > > -- > Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: > http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan > > P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net > > <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: > http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens > > #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ > > _______________________________________________ > P2P Foundation - Mailing list > http://www.p2pfoundation.net > https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation > >
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