From Orient are…

by T4P friend Rachael Loftus (one of our Three Wise Women for Advent), on growing confidence in local communities to tackle the big issues

All year I’ve listened to the media speaking about “our” response to the economic crisis, and “our” lack of faith in political leadership, even “our” reluctance to face the reality of how a changing climate or peak oil will impact our lifestyles. Yet in conversation, I’ve noticed a different kind of ‘our’ spoken of. Not of one of hand-wringing, impotent despair, but an assertive reaction to the increasingly global, increasingly complex systems that seem to govern our world, a creative confidence that ‘our’ can solutions start here and now in the places where we live as community to one another.

There are of course political and economic answers to be found to the challenges we face, but there are also increasingly persistent questions that we can only answer as communities. What is going to be the character and identity of tomorrow’s Leeds? What kind of community identity and values, experience and spirit do we want to build for the future? What can we do to bring about the best Leeds of tomorrow?

Communities, of any hue, don’t happen by coincidence: they blossom where individuals show leadership and generosity. They take work, and they take time. But in our time-poor lives, surely there are more creative ways of thinking to be found about how we work together as communities and leaders.

The Ulster poet Seamus Heaney wrote: “move lips, move minds, and make new meanings flare”. So that’s my New Year’s resolution: making new meanings flare, wherever I can. And who knows, maybe next year could be “our” year…

How to make… an activist

by T4P friend Jacinta Kent (one of our Three Wise Women for Advent), on moral outrage, inspiration, passion, fear and inaction, and changing the world…

Ingredients: 2 lemons & torn t-shirt/balaclava (optional). 1 houseful of Ecover products. 2 large packs Zapatista coffee. 1 deeply concerned expression. 85,000 tsp moral outrage. A large tbsp of dedication. Sift optimism consistently throughout. (You may also want to add just a hint of jaded depending on length of campaigning but this is quite a natural ingredient).

Activists. We come from every race, country and background imaginable but are all bound by one thing. It starts with a sense of injustice that won’t stay at the back of our minds. The more we learn, the further it shuffles, bustles, sometimes leaps to the forefront of our thoughts. It makes inaction an inconceivable idea and urges us to search the far flung corners of our creativity to try and find a way to make things better; so we take action.

I’ve been campaigning since I was 16 years old and have been inspired by hundreds of people over the last 14 years, but when I first started writing this piece, I was immediately struck by the inherent contradiction of trying to tell someone how to be an activist; mainly because I believe that an important step towards ‘being an activist’ is thinking for yourself. Saying that, thinking for yourself doesn’t mean you can’t draw inspiration and support from other groups or ideologies and perhaps take action together. It is usually when working collectively we begin to realise our strength and power.

Although asking questions is just the beginning, it’s an essential place to start. We cannot look for justice in an unjust system. It is the same power structures, namely rich governments and corporations that disseminate disinformation and propaganda whilst knowingly perpetuating poverty, exploitation, injustice and environmental devastation.

Similarly, we should be careful not to just accept that the answers lie with those groups who profess to want the same things we want - namely the charity and non-governmental sector. Some of these groups are incredibly progressive, but we should always be aware that all groups have different priorities, agendas and definitions of progress.

So what can you actually do…? Well, if you’re new to the issues, you can read, research and attend talks and events to help you decide what it is you feel passionate about. We can’t work on every issue of injustice and it’s when we start thinking on that scale that an overwhelming feeling can rear its head. Don’t let it. It’s incredible what a small group of people, or even just one individual, can achieve. So focus on your passions, start small and go from there.

If you already have an understanding of the many and varied global justice and community issues that exist, but aren’t involved in action as of yet – get a wriggle on! Knowledge is key but translating that knowledge into action is where the real change lies. Whatever you do, don’t be afraid to just put yourself out there and ask as many questions as you feel necessary. There is no right way of being an activist; the very fact that you’re trying makes you one.

Taking Action. There are many groups you can get involved with who campaign on all sorts of issues: from women’s rights and sustainable living to animal rights and immigration, just search online or in the library and get in contact. If there’s an issue you care about but can’t find a group you identify with, start one up! You can ask for guidance from other organisations or just learn as you go. Here are a few ideas of the different types of action you can take:

* Organise an event or action to raise awareness and/or funds for your cause – try combining music, art, film or even a sweat-shop free/vintage fashion show with speakers to engage people.

* Explore the possibilities of non-violent direct action (NVDA) – for example, blockading the premises of corporations can gain publicity and directly impact their operations.

* Make a concerted effort to live as ethically and sustainably as you can.

* Lobby the government – organise or go on demonstrations, send letters and postcards, and constantly question their actions.

We are part of this country, yet when it takes unjust and sometimes illegal action in our name, many of us remain quiet. No matter how big or small, our (in)action dictates our future.

Power can only be upheld for as long as it relies on our fear and apathy to stand in the way of change. However, we all have the potential to be a part of change and create a fairer world for us all to live in. One in which richer countries do not benefit from the exploitation of others and poorer countries do not exist to largely serve our over-consumptive needs.

Revolutions, acts of solidarity and communities are not pre-made, pre-packaged deals. They can’t be bought, exchanged or bartered for. Like all the greatest things in life, they are made. And it is up to us to make them.

Where are we going?

by T4P friend Veronique Raingeval (one of our Three Wise Women for Advent), on Leeds, community voices, the recession, government, and the future…

A lot’s happened this year in Leeds. I like the funky stone seats in the pedestrian area. The Rose Bowl always surprises me when I walk up towards Headingley: I haven’t yet grown to expect it there. I like being able to go to the renovated Howard Room to see exhibitions and have a coffee at the Leeds Museum. Leeds is looking better and better. This is change for the better.

I like stopping in certain kitchens, churches and community halls in the “rim”, those places that give Leeds its genuiness and integrity, where community spirit lives, in spite of the perennial lack of investment in public facilities. Here, voices are growing strong, and collective will about what future those communities want for themselves is taking shape. Yet still, two different worlds, worlds with different visions and agendas about the future…

This year, I saw new desire to connect those two different communities. For example, builders and planners realising they need to get much better at understanding how people actually use their buildings. Communities realising they need to communicate what they want more powerfully if they stand a chance to create change. Yet there’s still lots of mistrust.

People feel let down by their leaders. The recession they didn’t see coming, the war in Iraq they convinced themselves was the right thing to do. People want to know. When everything was going well, it was okay to be ignorant - but that’s no longer the case. From MPs’ expenses to bank bonuses, to bin and flight attendant strikes, people want to know how they are governed and why. By and large, the government has responded with new knowledge tools: school rankings, comprehensive area assessments, freedom of information Act, public enquiries.

But as the information “out there” increases, connections between causes and effects become more complex, more difficult to follow, and increasingly complicated to act upon.

The issue then becomes:  what will people do with it? Who and how many can take responsibility for doing something with the knowledge they acquired, and for how long? People realise they need to get involved and make their own decisions for the benefit of their communities. And this is a very personal decision too, because it can very much entail personal sacrifices.

If 2009 was a year for sharing information, 2010 and 2011 will be the years of reckoning.  What are going to do with that information? How much responsibility are we willing to take? Have we got the time, the motivation, and the resiliency to do something with the information we seem to want or now have? Are we ready for what we’re asking for? Criticising is easy, but proposing truly sustainable solutions, making compromises with the ‘other’, working together to build the change we want to see, and possibly negotiating a Sunday or two away from our spouses and children in order to do this, is actually the hardest bit.

In 2010 and 2011, we will begin to find more democratic ways to inform, connect and involve more people into making important decisions about where our communities, and in turn countries, are going. This slow but – I believe – irreversible bottom-up  process will bring us closer together across cultural, religious, age, ability and class divides. It will not be easy, and will frighten some – those whose identities will feel threatened by the necessary compromises this process will ask of everyone. As we see a definite movement towards connectedness and collective work, we will also experience frightening jolts from groups and movements, who speak out for those who are not ready for increased connectedness.

The 1980s were famous for words like greed, growth, boom and economic cycles. We must now think about new words for our era. I would suggest balance and compassion should be amongst those words. What words would you like to promote for 2010?

Out of acorns…

by Mike

It was assumed that since the ice receded at the end of the last Ice Age, all of the oak trees in Europe grew from acorns carried by birds from the south. We now know though, through genetic tracing, that in fact many acorns had survived dormant under the ice, and that these ’survivors’ played a big part in reforesting northern Europe…

What economic, social and political ‘acorns’ have been hidden - presumed dead or irrelevant - beneath the dominant thinking and practices of our times? ‘Acorns’ that are now re-emerging, holding multiple possibilities for our future?

For example, what strange collective intuition is causing us to queue up for allotments and to grow our own food? Or to sign up to Freegle and freely redistribute unwanted possessions? What may now seem to be random, insignificant bits of thinking and action, may actually be laying out the foundations for a future human ecology – whole new ways of being.

We’re getting excited about the Leeds Summat’s timing and potential to help us cultivate some of these multiple possibilities for the future; it’s about us all re-imagining the possibility of the city.

Is it just pie in the sky?

by Jill

Monday 21st September was just like any other day in Leeds. The city was bustling with shoppers and pies were flowing out of Greggs as normal. Yet it was also a different kind of day. It was a day that connected us with stories across the globe and that dated way back in history.

21st September is the International Day for Peace, established by a United Nations resolution in 1981, when individuals, organizations and nations create practical acts of peace. ‘Sounds like pie in the sky to me’, the Yorkshire cynic in me may chunter. Yet if you visit the Peace One Day website, it’s jam-packed with stories of how just one day can and does save lives. And that even the smallest steps towards peace are still worthwhile.

Here in Leeds, we didn’t save any lives. We did however take the step of telling people about some different narratives of the city. We launched a walking trail and map around the city (click here for more), that introduces folk to little-known stories of social action and peace-makers in Leeds. Each step of the trail takes in sites of historic interest that highlight topics such as the cost of war, destitution, asylum and human rights.

If you walk the route, why not reflect on the stories of (ordinary) people taking steps towards peace – and consider your own daily steps?

www.t4p.org.uk/peacetrail

The need to stop.

by Ed

It’s summer time (at least in spurts) and it’s all nice and quiet in the voluntary sector. Which got me thinking… I’ve just read Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’ (read a preview here) – a timeless little book of wisdom. I found reading it quite a profound experience, of new stillness and grounded-ness. And I realised how little stillness, how little grounded-ness there is around.

We’re a restless, rootless society – swamping ourselves with relentless communication, consumption, and comfort. As Brian Eno said, we’re increasingly ‘entertained to death’. And whilst we might well like it that way, we have to at least acknowledge that our behaviour is abnormal: few if any societies in human history have tried to live such a non-stop lifestyle.

In fact, it’s been normal in human history (and remains normal in most of the world today) for people to stop, to slow down, and to reflect in the course of their lives. Most cultures have rest days (such as the Jewish ‘Shabbat’), when the work stops. Many cultures have times of fasting – as we see now amongst our Muslim friends and neighbours as they observe Ramadan. And surely few people have ever tried to keep themselves as busy, as wired, as on-the-go as we do.

Is there another way, and do you – like me – feel its gentle pull? This other way cannot be imposed – it can only emerge from amongst us, through us. After all, society is only ever a reflection of its members – and we’re all complicit in the restlessness, the rootless-ness.

Rather than stopping, looking inside, reflecting, it’s easier and safer to keep moving on, to keep busy. And so we keep everything on the outside, where it’s safe. (All this is as true for me as for the next person – if not more so…)

Yet for change to occur, it must start with ourselves in our daily lives. We must dare to step off the treadmill, and to stop producing. To look inside and reflect. And maybe out of that stillness and reflection, we can hope for new wisdom, visions and lifestyles… for a more whole society, a more loving relationship with the natural order, and more.

The art of conversation

by Mike

If you spend any time with the T4P team, you’ll hear us talk about ‘conversation’. The word may bring to mind ‘polite conversation’ or the ‘chattering classes’. But for us it’s a word of growing significance.

In the early days of T4P, I was struck by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ phrase: ‘Society is a conversation scored for many voices’ – a conversation in which I respect you enough to tell you about myself and to listen as you reciprocate. He was speaking about how we might live together and shape a future when we come from such diverse cultures, faiths and value systems.

Or, as Martin Luther King put it: ‘We may have come in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat’. Last year, I heard Zygmunt Bauman (at the inaugural ‘Taking Soundings’ event in Leeds) suggest that the issue for our future is ‘the art of living together’.

We can see diversity in our city and nation as a challenge or a problem. Or we can grasp it with both hands and embark on learning the art of conversation with ‘the other’, whoever they may be – and that can only enrich us. The word ‘conversation’ literally means to ‘turn about with’ – and indeed, real conversation requires us to turn to one another. That may not mean that we change, but at least we will have understood each other better.

Re-imagining economics

By Ed 

Whilst all eyes are on the political sphere, it seems we’ve forgotten that we’ve still got a very broken economy. Even if the ‘crash’ is yet to come, the last year has enabled us all to glimpse the hidden nature of the economy that we’ve made: controlled by an elite, based upon poverty and debt, rooted in a destructive individualism, environmentally brutal, and hollow. And it’s not just about money: it’s infected every part of our lives, our worldview, our culture.

But what is ‘economy’? It comes from the Greek word, ‘oικονομια’: the management of a household. In theory, ‘economies’ should be relational and mutual: good flows of resources amongst people. But human society has a funny way of spiriting away that which is good and grassrootsy – and making it cold, contractual and controlled. (Think religious and political systems too.)

We now have a unique opportunity to rethink economies, and get free! There are potential alternatives everywhere… Communal living, and hospitality (like the remarkable Shortstop scheme in Leeds). Car and tool shares. Fasting. Freecycle. Refurbishing furniture, bicycles, clothes, anything (click here for Leeds-based organisations doing this). Dumpster-diving and freeganism. Hitch-hiking. Growing food (allotmenting or guerrilla gardening) or foraging for it. Time banks. The list goes on… And these are all waiting to be done NOW: there’s no need to wait for the big revolution.

But whilst we don’t need a revolution, we might find some ‘stories’ useful – to guide and sustain us. Everyone lives according to social ‘stories’, which we construct amongst ourselves and which then shape the way we see and act in the world. With the story of consumer capitalism wavering, what alternative ‘stories’ can we recover and reuse?

Potentially fruitful examples include: the Hebrew vision of ‘covenant’ (which Gordon Brown was talking about before everyone turned on him); the southern African idea of ‘ubuntu’; and chaos theory (which Meg Wheatley makes pretty accessible). These ‘stories’ invite us to see the world differently – primarily to see not our independence from one another, but actually our necessary and good interdependence.

They invite us to develop new economies – economies of interdependence – with relationship at the heart. Do we dare though? Will we allow ourselves beyond the comfort zones and barriers that our individualised culture currently gives us? Over to you.

The power of imagination

by Mike

If ever there was a time to be reading a book about economics, it’s now.

In ’The Shock Doctrine’ (an economic page-turner!), Naomi Klein tells the story of South Africa’s transition out of the apartheid era. ANC negotiators were persuaded that the only option for the South African economy was the neo-liberal, deregulated global market economy, which had become known as ‘The Washington Consensus’.

Whilst all eyes were on the political negotiations, ANC negotiators in the ‘boring’ economic meetings were being forced to ditch their core values as out of date and unrealistic. The result was a transfer of political power… with economic power remaining firmly in the hands of those who’d always had it.

Empires of all kinds – including economic ones - gain real power when they colonise the imaginations of their subjects to truly believe that there is no other possibility. To imagine a different way is dangerously heretical and a threat to the empire’s ‘peace’.

This failure of imagination then allows those with power to hold onto it, and is the reason why oppressed people may insist that they’re happy with the status quo, and in fact resist the very change that would liberate them.

Against the backdrop of the global economic crisis, Gordon Brown recently announced the death of ‘The Washington Consensus’. What’s not yet clear however is what might take its place.

The Chinese word-symbol for ‘crisis’ is a combination of the word-symbols for ‘threat’ and opportunity’. And in Matthew’s account of his life, Jesus warns his nation that a house swept clean of bad things but not occupied by something better is in danger of being re-occupied by something seven times worse.

The current threats we face are not hard to imagine: history shows us just how dangerous economic depressions can be – for generations growing up without work, for minorities, and for relations between states. Our unique opportunity and responsibility is to creatively imagine and work towards a sustainable future shaped through ‘conversations scored for many voices’ (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks).

Indeed, imagination enables us to be response-able – wherever we are. With global capitalism now found wanting, maybe we can begin to seek and find ways forward that are local, sustainable and that build community. There’s a groundswell of stories of people doing just that, stories that until recently were below the radar.

Paulo Freire once asked: ‘What if we discover that our present way of life is irreconcilable with our vocation to become fully human?’ Maybe, just maybe, as a result of the crises we now face, we’ll be able to imagine what it means to be more fully human.

Welcome to the T4P blog

T4P works creatively with diverse people - from grassroots to government – to develop and support cooperative projects that strengthen communities and promote peace-making. We’re based in Leeds (in the UK), a city which we love. This our monthly blog: thanks for reading it, we hope you find it useful, and please get in touch via t4p.org.uk.