Contribution short abstract:

As conveners we will support the roundtable to frame the work, ongoing partnership development, and overall learnings of the Translocal Learning Network as we address social, economic, and environmental crises, build mutual solidarity and non-hierarchal learning.

Contribution long abstract:

In an effort to encourage connection and mutual learning between local movements, the Translocal Learning Network (TLN) serves as an effective social justice framework that attempts to build and maintain local to local (i.e. translocal) non-hierarchical connections between movements. The overall goal of this research partnership is to catalyze and animate translocal learning as a means to build capacity among localized movements in their struggles for a climate just and anti-capitalist future, and in so doing trace the contours of a theory of translocal learning – learning based on local to local learning as opposed to top down learning that mimics the very problematic of global dominance these movements contest. Key to this process is an insistence that movements and groups rooted in local social change efforts are crucial authors and actors of a climate just and anti-capitalist future. The members of the TLN address ongoing and emergent injustices to claim rights, assert agency, and demand representation and the redistribution of resources for marginalized communities in South Africa, Ghana, Guatemala and Canada. Creating shared spaces for connection, support, and learning through the ongoing struggles of each social movement has provided continuous moments of solidarity and opportunities for reimagining being in the world. This roundtable gathers partners to share experiences that illustrate these struggles, learnings, and successes and as a chair I will help to frame the work, ongoing partnership development, and overall learnings from this.

Contribution short abstract:

CLP will discuss current realities of the poor, particularly in KwaZulu Natal, under the oppressive systems in South Africa, that permeates to all aspects of life, including the electoral system that favors the elites, the failing of infrastructures and the proposed coalitions’ after 2024 elections

Contribution long abstract:

Players change but the game remains the same.

This phrase was used by one member of Abahlali baseMjondolo in a meeting where we were talking about elections and the impact it’s have on people on the ground, who are marginalized and yet they are still expected to participate in the upcoming elections. She cautions that we need to be mindful that even if we change the ruling government, the ‘game’, the electoral system, remains the same, producing elites. Apartheid system favored ‘white’ people. Now it favors the elite, the ones who are poor remains poor and left with hope that someday things will change; hope that is renewed every five years.

While there is less intense focus on South Africa now that apartheid is over, the sociological legacies continue and the fundamental nature or rules of the game remain constant. It points to the idea that regardless of who is involved, the main objectives, strategies, and overall dynamics of the game do not fluctuate. It emphasizes the notion that although the participants may alter, the essence and essence of the game remains unchanged.

CLP will discuss the current realities of the poor, particularly in KwaZulu Natal, under the ongoing oppressive systems in South Africa, that permeates to all aspects of life, including the electoral system that favors the elites, the failing electricity system with load-sharing, and the improper draining systems in poor, flood-prone areas (compounded by climate change) that results in loss of homes, food, and lives when it rains.

Contribution short abstract:

A presentation on the far-reaching consequences of multi-national mining in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Through a discussion of stories of dispossession, we encourage dialogue, foster understanding and advocate for sustainable practices that prioritize the rights of affected communities

Contribution long abstract:

This discussion will delve into the profound impact of multi-national mining activities on the communities of the Upper East Region in Ghana, specifically focusing on the alarming stories of dispossession of ancestral lands. The region, rich in cultural heritage and agricultural livelihoods, faces a growing threat as multi-national mining companies seek to exploit its abundant gold resources in collusion with State Institutions.

Through an exploration of real-life stories, light will be shed on the multifaceted consequences of multinational mining-induced dispossession of community lands. From the loss of cultural identity to the disruption of traditional farming practices and land degradation, this narrative will highlight the social, economic, and environmental toll on the affected communities.

The discussion will also provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms employed by multinational mining companies to acquire land and the subsequent displacement of local populations. Additionally, throws light on the challenges faced by these communities in seeking justice and recognition of their rights in the face of powerful corporate interests.

Contribution short abstract:

Abahlali baseMjondolo will contribute to this roundtable by sharing learnings, stories and critiques about development as part of our work with the poor shack dwellers of South Africa and in our work with the Translocal Learning Network.

Contribution long abstract:

The dignity of the poor can only be achieved if they are part of their own development, becoming stewards and active participants on their own terms and by their own design. This must be a process undertaken from below, democratically, with people being consulted and making decisions, having a voice to speak about their own development. It must be initiated and completed with the people. “Nothing about us, without us”, the slogan used by many movements to demand that the full and direct participation of members must be integral to decision-making, grounds the work of Abahlali baseMjondolo, a shack dwellers movement in South Africa, with more than 115,000 members that was formed in 2005 to fight for, promote and advance the interests of the poor and marginalized. This contribution grows out of a critique of development and is grounded in the understanding that development is neo-colonial and neo-imperial and that is something that is imposed and done to poor people in the formerly colonized countries, with the backing and financial support of Western governments, aid agencies, companies, and local governments. It is always assumed that when you are poor, when you are living in a shack, when you live in a rural area, when you are marginalized, that you cannot think for yourself, that you cannot be involved in development, because you are poor. AbM demonstrates that people and movements are capable of determining what is best for themselves and to ensure the dignity and rights of the poor.

Contribution short abstract:

CCDA is a peasent organization with 42 years experience reclaiming Indigenous land. They focus on sustainability, gender equality, and the preservation of Indigenous patrimony

Contribution long abstract:

The water resource in the highlands of Guatemala, especially in the Verapaces region, has been the scene of large massacres against Indigenous peoples for the implementation of Hydroelectric Plants.

In the 70's, resistance communities in the banks of Río Negro began facing persecution, dispossession, and criminalization. Río Negro is one of the great rivers that supply the largest Hydroelectric Plant in Guatemala called Chixoy. There were massacres, many disappeared, others forcibly displaced, exiled from their territories where they were born and others who remained in resistance.

With the largest hydroelectric plant in the country 4 kilometers away and despite suffering dispossession and criminalization, more than 500 families from the departments of Quiché, Alta and Baja Verapaz live in conditions of abandonment, without electricity, without development programs for health, housing, education etc.

Despite all the violations against humanity committed in the Río Negro Massacre, many Q'eqch'i' Mayan families are still waiting for compliance with the resolutions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights -IACHR-, which mandates the recognition of the violations of Human Rights, the compensation to the families and the legalization of some 1,500 caballerías of territory in favor of the families by the State of Guatemala.

We are not opposed to the energy transition, but respect for the lives of families, their development, respect for the life cycle of Rivers and Mother Nature.

Leocadio Juracán

Comité Campesino del Altiplano –CCDA-

Guatemala.

Contribution short abstract:

Radio Ada is a community Radio Station located in the Ada East District of Grater Accra Region of Ghana. It is the voice of the Dangme people.

Contribution long abstract:

November 6, 2023 has become another taboo day for the local salt producers in Ada, just as the police confrontation with community members that led to the death of a pregnant woman in 1985. The Story of the Songor Lagoon: Who Killed Maggie?

Mr. John Korletey Agormedah, a 52 year old salt winner died of bullet wounds after he has been shot three times during an attempt to protect his salt winning business. His killing occurred when a joint taskforce and state police sent by Electrochem Ghana Limited, a private company awarded the entire Ada Songor Lagoon in a monopoly lease by the government and some local chiefs to destroy the community members salt winning equipment’s in the lagoon communities. Local chiefs fail to condemn the barbaric killing of their subject after three months, rather, they quickly reacted and condemn a political candidate for his comments which has been deemed, uncultured language in a viral video. He has been fined 30,000 Ghana cedis, 4 Rams, 4 foreign schnapps or face a ban in the elections. The police continue to arrest, detain and prosecuting community members including chiefs with the offence of inciting community members against the private company.

Thank you.

Contribution short abstract:

As academics working with and learning from the social movements who are part of this roundtable, in this contribution we talk about what we have learned from them, and why we think this is important.

Contribution long abstract:

As engaged scholars, with a long interest in social movements, we have been working with some of the social movements who form part of this roundtable discussion over a number of years. We have learned a great deal from our interaction with them, and have worked together to begin to theorise this learning. In this contribution, we discuss what we mean by the concept 'subaltern social movement', and why we feel that the learning from such social movements in critical in current times.