Haven’t read this in full but THANK YOU! Rooting into tradition, not for the purpose of establishing some discrete racial identity (*cough cough* white nationalism) but re-establishing age-old models of collectivism and expansive kinship
Fascinating and thought provoking. I've been troubled for a long while by the automatic linking of tradition with right-wing viewpoints, when I've felt that "tradition" could be radical and inclusive (relational) in the broadest sense. I'm looking forward to the other essays in the series. Thanks.
This is really well done (can't come up with adequate words!) My reconnection with my family's Irish roots has for me been connected with deconstructing whiteness/white supremacy & antiracism/anti colonial/anticapitalist work. But I've been struggling to socially & politically integrate it, it's mostly my own thoughts & studies. So much anti racism & white privilege teaching here in North America is focused on an "original sin/confessional/self flagellation type ritual which I believe has contributed to rise of fascism. Alienation & disconnection are at the roots. And I see similar problems across the pond.
Just published my newsletter on honoring all that is “anciently modern” & “traditionally futuristic” based on my convo with Tyson Yunkaporta and your essay pops up. Feeling much aligned and looking forward to diving deeper into your resources, thank you!
Have you read Riane Eisler's (1987) The Chalice and The Blade? Her framework on relational dynamics across the domination-partnership social scale and cultural transformation theory might be of interest. For a quick digest, see partnerism.org.
Thanks Caroline. This is interesting to come across. I had a read of the website. There seems to be some congruence with where I'm coming from, and also important divergences. While the Partnerism framework seems to focus on domination beyond capitalism/socialism, something I agree needs to be a focal point of meaningful change, its proposals for how to move things from where we are seem quite weak and not well considered from my cursory read. It critiques both capitalism and (state) communism, but suggested action for moving beyond these paradigms seems to be limited to liberal reformism via state-level channels and pathways, which is just participation in the current systems of domination that will ultimately reproduce those systems. I strongly believe that any meaningful new paradigms cannot be created via the current systems.
I appreciate your reflections Jimmy and I do agree that change cannot come from the existing paradigm. I find the 3-Horizons framework helpful for setting out the 'business as usual', 'transition' and 'transformation' pathways together so we can see where the range of possible actions may lie. I refer to the 'business as usual' pathway as 'triage' because of my work with social services supporting people who have been and continue to be harmed under the current system. Triage reminds us to continue to address the harms of the 'business as usual' model while concurrently midwifing transformations through the necessary transitions. I find the strength of Eisler's framework in her highlighting relational dynamics calling on us to attend to them in the transformations to ensure they are founded on 'power with' and 'power to' relations rather than repeating the 'power over' relations, especially as a result of our own unprocessed trauma. The other key contribution she makes is that she calls on us to attend to relational dynamics within our private spaces of home and family (more primary socialisation) as well as our public spaces of community and livelihoods (secondary socialisation). That brings the issue of gender and the needs of childhood and family to the fore.
Hey there, since you're on my Substack I'm going to assume making some recommendations is okay. If you're curious, these might give you quite a different perspective on what tradition even is.
Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai Smith.
Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies In Education eds. Smith, Tuck, Yang.
Routledge Handbook of Critical Indigenous Studies.
Cited work above by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
Anarcho-Indigenism: Conversations on Land and Freedom Edited by Francis Dupuis-Déri and Benjamin Pillet.
The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon.
Zig-Zag's Manual for Decolonization in the 21st Century.
Haven’t read this in full but THANK YOU! Rooting into tradition, not for the purpose of establishing some discrete racial identity (*cough cough* white nationalism) but re-establishing age-old models of collectivism and expansive kinship
Exactly :)
This was thorough. An entire encyclopedia in here! A very generous offering. Thank you. I will need to read through several more times and take notes.
Fascinating and thought provoking. I've been troubled for a long while by the automatic linking of tradition with right-wing viewpoints, when I've felt that "tradition" could be radical and inclusive (relational) in the broadest sense. I'm looking forward to the other essays in the series. Thanks.
This is really well done (can't come up with adequate words!) My reconnection with my family's Irish roots has for me been connected with deconstructing whiteness/white supremacy & antiracism/anti colonial/anticapitalist work. But I've been struggling to socially & politically integrate it, it's mostly my own thoughts & studies. So much anti racism & white privilege teaching here in North America is focused on an "original sin/confessional/self flagellation type ritual which I believe has contributed to rise of fascism. Alienation & disconnection are at the roots. And I see similar problems across the pond.
Just published my newsletter on honoring all that is “anciently modern” & “traditionally futuristic” based on my convo with Tyson Yunkaporta and your essay pops up. Feeling much aligned and looking forward to diving deeper into your resources, thank you!
Thanks kaméa. I just came across you and shared one of your posts on instagram the other day. Will check out the post you mentioned soon.
Really looking forward to reading this 🙏🏻
Have you read Riane Eisler's (1987) The Chalice and The Blade? Her framework on relational dynamics across the domination-partnership social scale and cultural transformation theory might be of interest. For a quick digest, see partnerism.org.
Thanks Caroline. This is interesting to come across. I had a read of the website. There seems to be some congruence with where I'm coming from, and also important divergences. While the Partnerism framework seems to focus on domination beyond capitalism/socialism, something I agree needs to be a focal point of meaningful change, its proposals for how to move things from where we are seem quite weak and not well considered from my cursory read. It critiques both capitalism and (state) communism, but suggested action for moving beyond these paradigms seems to be limited to liberal reformism via state-level channels and pathways, which is just participation in the current systems of domination that will ultimately reproduce those systems. I strongly believe that any meaningful new paradigms cannot be created via the current systems.
I appreciate your reflections Jimmy and I do agree that change cannot come from the existing paradigm. I find the 3-Horizons framework helpful for setting out the 'business as usual', 'transition' and 'transformation' pathways together so we can see where the range of possible actions may lie. I refer to the 'business as usual' pathway as 'triage' because of my work with social services supporting people who have been and continue to be harmed under the current system. Triage reminds us to continue to address the harms of the 'business as usual' model while concurrently midwifing transformations through the necessary transitions. I find the strength of Eisler's framework in her highlighting relational dynamics calling on us to attend to them in the transformations to ensure they are founded on 'power with' and 'power to' relations rather than repeating the 'power over' relations, especially as a result of our own unprocessed trauma. The other key contribution she makes is that she calls on us to attend to relational dynamics within our private spaces of home and family (more primary socialisation) as well as our public spaces of community and livelihoods (secondary socialisation). That brings the issue of gender and the needs of childhood and family to the fore.
Jimmy this essay is pure fire. Go raibh míle maith agat 👏👏👏
no, we don't. all the traditions have failed.
Hey there, since you're on my Substack I'm going to assume making some recommendations is okay. If you're curious, these might give you quite a different perspective on what tradition even is.
Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai Smith.
Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies In Education eds. Smith, Tuck, Yang.
Routledge Handbook of Critical Indigenous Studies.
Cited work above by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
Anarcho-Indigenism: Conversations on Land and Freedom Edited by Francis Dupuis-Déri and Benjamin Pillet.
The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon.
Zig-Zag's Manual for Decolonization in the 21st Century.