(Rutazibwa 2019: 162)
You made it here (hopefully physically!) and that’s no mean feat, so congratulations. If you thought it was hard to make it to ISS, without mincing words, let’s just say it’s going to get tougher, but also rewarding. It’s going to be plenty of hard work entailing long nights with endless cups of coffee trying to meet deadlines, coping with homesickness, and other such miseries. We, as current ISS students (the unique ‘Covid’19’ batch) have had our challenges and we have struggled with things beyond just coursework, although we realise that for many (if not all) the coursework can be the most challenging part because ISS would provoke you to not just rethink development but it will compel you to unlearn and reject certain (noble) notions that you so far held dear or never really questioned. Therefore, as a welcoming food-forthought, we bring you our Zine ‘Pluriverse’.
Our intention here is to introduce you to some concepts that we find destabilise, resist and give
alternatives to the Eurocentric hegemony of knowledge production, of making sense of the world, of speaking up against (structural) inequalities, and questioning the notion of ‘doing’ development the ‘right’ way. Why are we talking about this, you ask? You just got here and it all sounds a bit too heavy, and well, possibly boring. Bear with us for a bit: Firstly, critiquing Eurocentric approaches to development and asking ‘what we really mean by development’ is something we do quite a lot at ISS and for good reason, which you will find out soon enough. Secondly, many of us here come from the majority world, right? Those who do; ask yourselves, how many times in our lives have we been told (advised or instructed, implicitly or explicitly) to look at the ‘West’ for answers, to look up to them to learn how to do things ‘right’ and ‘better’. Pluriverse (which is what not-so-coincidentally our Zine is called) is just one of the concepts that can be seen as a fitting response to this West-knows-it-all and Westdoes-it-best phenomenon.
So, what exactly is Pluriverse (and why have we named our Zine so) ? Pluriverse is “a world where many worlds fit” (Kothari et al 2019: xxviii). Arturo Escobar (if you haven’t heard of him yet, ISS will make sure you do) suggests that pluriverse is “a practice of interbeing” that “signals struggles for bringing about “worlds and knowledges otherwise”—that is, worlds and knowledges constructed on the basis of different ontological commitments, epistemic configurations, and practices of being, knowing, and doing” (2012: xxxi, xxviii). Too complicated? Let’s try again: “pluriverse questions the very concept of universality that is central to Eurocentric modernity” by “fostering a bio-civilization that is eco-centric, diverse, and multidimensional, and one that is able to find a balance between individual and communal needs”
(Kothari et al 2019: xxxiii, xxxv). In a nutshell, “[t]here are many alternatives to the domineering, profiteering, globalizing, disempowering ‘progress’ of the West” and pluriverse “in which diverse hopes can be sown, multiple opportunities can be cultivated, and a plurality of meaningful lives can be achieved by the richly different and caring people” is one of them (Norgaard 2019). For our own part, we find that pluriverse is a form of existence where multiple ways of knowing, growing, living and doing amongst people (and the biosphere) can co-exist peacefully and beneficially without extractivist tendencies and the need to create hierarchies of authority and power. We also believe that pluriverse does not attempt to diffuse and assimilate differences into a giant mass of
shapeless glob, but instead embraces them and sees them as opportunities for learning from each other and mutual growth. Ultimately, what is really interesting about the ‘pluriverse’ is that it is by its very definition something that is expanding, and reshaping and evolving, thereby making its very definition open to plural interpretations. What we think of as pluriverse may not be how you see it, and there is a beauty to this openness, wouldn’t you agree? The five concepts that we bring to you – migration,
collaborative governance, body politics, gender coloniality, and degrowth – inform us about various dominant forms of power structures that create varied inequalities and discrimination (amongst not just people but between humans and nature too) and our take on these topics by various mediums such as visuals and audio is our response (and possibly a mode of resistance or simply an attempt to create awareness) to them. We believe that exploring these ideas contribute to the larger theme of pluriverse that strives for equality and harmony among all. For instance, body politics and gender coloniality raise the demand for bodily autonomy and gender equality of racially, sexually Othered bodies. Migration foregrounds the possibilities of multiculturalism and global
harmony by challenging divisive mentalities and deconstructing Otherization of people based on their place of origin. Migration seen in a positive light also collapses the binaries of the centre (West) and the periphery (majority world). But at the same time, it can also lead to multiple possibilities of exploitation. Collaborative governance’s bottomsup approach recognises and mobilises the agency of the (socio-economically weaker) Other who are often understood as marginalised and lacking capabilities. Finally, degrowth challenges the extractivist tendencies of humans from nature and promotes planetary well-being. All of these ideas, therefore, contribute to towards making a pluriverse. We hope that you will enjoy our take on the various concepts that are intrinsic to any ‘development debate’ as much as we did creating them and will find an opportunity to reflect on these topics (and more) in the future.
The Pluriverse Zine team
Seascape. I wish there’s a way for me to escape. I couldn’t remember the last time I sailed in peace. This horizon without land recalled all the unpleasant memories many moons ago. I traded everything I had. Not everything, because I just have very few things. Unlike Marni, who just came back home. Building her new mansion after years of sweating in Hong Kong. Moving. I wish that yesteryears could be a start of my new life. Curing my family of a trap called poverty. Putting food on the table from overseas. I sacrifice numerous chances. As witnessing the first step of my son earthing. Howbeit I still packed my bags. For the sake of saving money so he could have a better life than me. Misery. The dawn of tragedy occurred since I left home. A man in a uniform forced me to trust him. Escorting me to an unknown place that was not in my plan.
It was not Hong Kong. Even when I was not really aware of how it supposed to be. But I realize that passage by ferry just hasty. Indeed not the dreamland that can help me to live like Marni.
Azrina Darmayani
Behind the words This narrative depicts an unknown Indonesian migrant story that trapped in the calamity named human trafficking. She is one of the victims of an inhuman practice that commonly referred as “the hidden figure of crime” by the United Nations. No specific statistics are ever being shown because most cases are undetected. Implying the challenge to save these people on the move having a life that they deserve – the other side of the story that they expected before starting their migration journey.
In 2018, Indonesian migrant workers sent US$10,97 billion back to Indonesia in remittances that value was equivalent to 6,9% of Indonesia’s total Gross Domestic Product (Sigiro, 2020, p. 4). However, quoting Geiger and Pécoud, “the perceived positive impact of migration on sending regions has fuelled the valorization of migrants as agents of development, but this tends to obscure the normative constraints that surround this celebrated status” (Geiger and Pécoud, 2013, p. 371). The idea of having a better life is always a primary motive of their migration. Inequality and dissatisfaction with their country origin’s development trigger them to travel abroad and looking for a more desirable fortune.
The two migration actors told in the narrative are both women. This shows how the trend of feminization of migration in labour migration discourse. The feminization of migration is becoming a widespread phenomenon. The demand for ‘feminine jobs’ such as domestic workers, carers, including sex workers, is increasing. These workers move from poorer labour-surplus countries to wealthier labour-deficit economies (Vanderberg, 2015, p.1). This part of the discussion also showcased the logic of ‘who moves and who stays’ that indicated how poverty excluded marginal and less educated women in Indonesia to get access to a better life. Then migration appeared as a solution.
The emergence of this trend, on the other hand, creates an increasingly significant potential vulnerability for female migrant workers who are often become victims of violence due to the lack of protection. The unknown migrant worker shows the story of someone who used to be forgotten because they have an unsuccessful migration journey, as opposed to Marni, a luvvie that people will remember because she has a successful migration story.
Global South leading the way What is collaborative governance? “A governing arrangement where one or more public agencies directly engage non-state stakeholders in a collective decision-making process that is formal, consensus-oriented, and deliberative and that aims to make or implement public policy or manage public programs or assets” (Naomi van Stapele: 2020). Collaborative governance comes in various forms and initiatives which range from housing, water, farming, conservation, neighbourhood watch among other
projects from village level to national levels in which government, groups, private organisations and other stakeholders participate in collaboration. Ansell and Gash (2007:19) make the claim that “collaborative governance promises a sweet reward. It seems to promise that if we govern collaboratively, we may avoid the high costs of adversarial policy making, expand democratic participation, and even restore rationality to public management.”
Colombia: Dapaviva Foundation
North of Cali there is mountain forest range under the municipality of Yumbo that was under significant pressure from construction projects, increased farming, agro-industrial projects and tourism. Given the importance of this mountain forest as it provides an ecosystem to supply water to nearby towns and its rich biodiversity, the local community organized in order to protect this forest and they did it by involving different actors and promoting different interventions to ensure its protection. The community lead organisation Dapaviva Foundation worked with local schools to promote environmental education but also built a
program focused on teenagers to form them as rangers that would protect the ecosystem and also as ecotourism guides. The community involved companies that had agricultural projects in the area in order for them to be active participants of the conservation of the water sources, and are also working with smallholder farmers teaching them different techniques to improve the sustainability of their practices. The community lead organisation is also partnering with universities of the region with whom they perform research to highlight the importance of the conservation of this environment (Martinez 2020).
Zimbabwe: Victoria Range Vashandi (Workers) Housing Cooperative
“Vashandi housing cooperative.” This cooperative was established by local community members in the small town of Masvingo. The cooperative was responsible for the planning and decision making
on various aspects of the housing settlement. For example, the cooperative was responsible for allocating stands, setting standards on the required basic housing unit, deciding on where to locate various service centres such as shops, schools and medical center. To execute its functions well the housing cooperative worked hand in hand with various stakeholders such as the two local municipalities in setting up of a sewer reticulation system, connection of the settlement to clean supply of portable water to al homes. Furthermore, the cooperative engaged with the local electricity supplier for the settlement to be connected to the power grid and all the cooperative members paid a fee for the connection and the setting up of the basic infrastructure (Mugoto 2020).
lndonesia: Child Friendly lntegrated Public Space (RPTRA), Jakarta City One of the most challenging problems in Jakarta city is providing public open spaces that are safe for children to play and explore. Prakoso and Dewi (2018) state that the ratio of open spaces in Jakarta is only about 9-10% of the total area, far below the Indonesia’s minimum requirements of at least 30%. This is notwithstanding the fact that open spaces play an essential role in the daily life of people who live in cities like Jakarta. Concerned about the situation, in 2015 the Jakarta City Provincial Government published a policy to administer and guide the development of small public urban green spaces in Jakarta which gave birth to the policy on child-friendly integrated public spaces (RPTRA). The objective of this policy was to provide accessible places that integrate various public functions and activities, like playing and learning for children, social interaction for citizens, family consultations and information centers among other uses Prakoso and Dewi (2018). To ensure the success of this
policy initiative these RPTRA were to be managed by Family Welfare Movement (PKK) groups thereby giving ownership to the people. Not only was this initiative a government and people project as it also roped in the private sector who made it possible for the rapid development of RPTRAs as funds were drawn from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) allocation of private sector companies (Prakoso and Dewi: 2018).
Liberia, a country that was engulfed by fourteen years civil crises that seemed endless until the women of all faiths in Liberia led by Noble Laureate Leymah Gbowee came together when all of the men had failed to end the civil war to demand for peace. They wore all white and were seen at an open air field protesting daily that ended the crises. Liberians had given up all hopes because all efforts to end the war had failed which caught the attention of the women to stand up and say enough is enough. Even though their path was looking bleak but their hopes was always seen from their feminist principles and their principles of justice and value. It was a mixture of emotions seeing their country in a state of war which was a disbelief that the war could have ended very soon but that was the reality of women everywhere in Liberia. In anger, their movement reinforced and barricaded the hall where the peace agreement was being signed demanding that no one will leave the hall without signing the peace agreement. Their leader Leymah Gbowee was threatened to be arrested for obstructing justice even though they were fighting for peace. Leymah decided to strip naked because whatever shred of it that their social lives would believe exist especially as it relates to the protection of the most vulnerable people and what difference would that have made for a country where women were being forcibly raped and children used as child soldiers. A woman to strip in protest of pain, in protest of peace, in protest against destroying everything, in
protest of a childhood of that happy place, that community where everyone existed flashed past is different from a woman being force to strip. Bringing women to a place where they were prepare to dishonor themselves because they wanted peace. Afterwards, two things happened, the people in the hall got sober and the women out there got more radical through their body languages and messages and in less than three weeks the peace agreement was signed and the war in Liberia ended. Sometimes people think that women were only designed to endure childbirths. We women were created to provide supports were our male counterparts have failed. As women, we should not be defined by our waists sizes, be glorified by our arches of our backs, by our statuses of being subordinates, unequal to men or seen as doomed and not taken seriously. We should stop men from stereotyping us by saying only our bodies we have to offer. Even though at times, we are denied opportunities simply because we are women or we are treated greater but never better than men, we should have that in mind that we are capable and get fed up with our male counterparts saying things they have not been through. We should not be so numbed to the pain of wrapping our respects, dignity, less sobbing and sore because of shame. Let’s raise our voices we deserve not to be discriminated or put aside trying to find ourselves and leaving this earth never seeing our strengths. We should stand up for what we believe in.
Imagination-
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines it as “the faculty that produces ideas and images in the absence of direct sensory data, often by combining fragments of previous sensory experiences into new syntheses”. This statement reminds us how complex is the human mind. Contrary to mainstream psychological theories, humans do not only build their minds around rational experiences. In fact, our brain is still a mystery for science, whose method is probably hindering its full understanding. If we recall our childhood, many of us (both men and women) will remember ourselves as free, diverse and abstract beings. Just as the kid who looks at herself in the mirror and observes a world full of colors, non-rational figures and borderless imagination. As we grow up, we shape ourselves to what is considered “normal” or expected for our gender, a socially constructed idea pre-defined only by our genitalia. This idea ignores not only the rest of our bio-chemical mental processes, but also our enormous capacity of being. And so, we live our lives convinced that this is the right and only way to move forward, eventually abandoning our internal child, and with it our natural ability of imagining.
Mafalda, a non-conformist girl created by the Argentinian strip cartoonist Quino, asks to her mother “Mom, what
would wish to be if you would be alive?”. Mafalda has been one of the most important social critics of the 1960s, constantly problematizing gender roles, especially referring to the post-colonial nations’ contexts. Her
question is just precise – what would we be if we would have the opportunity of just being, without any socially pre-conceived ideas of who we should be? Quino placed well these problematics in South America, a territory that has been historically molded to the interests of a few powerful nations. Therefore, the colonial encounter plays no minor role when speaking about gender. Gender coloniality refers precisely to this historical wounds that are still open and bleeding, those which do not let us go beyond the material world we have rationally built (with a clear purpose). Transcending these ideas to live in a world where gender is fluid and our diverse beings are possible means unlearning a part of us while bringing back a forgotten one. Strengthening our ability to imagine is the vehicle to materialize new futures, where colonial asymmetries are contested; new worlds, where we can freely enact what think and actually exist.
lnspiring from Local for Global Movement All eyes are on the unprecedented catastrophic impact of environmental disasters. Now, all are fears of the impact of climate change, the rise of sea levels, biodiversity loss that has been widespread media coverage today. This concerning condition occurs when the world is at a point of very rapid progress. The development of information technology, increasingly rapid transportation, higher economic growth are the signs of advancement. This contradictory description made me reflect more on what is going on. That leads my encounters to development discourse. Once that attracts my curiosity is the idea of ‘degrowth’, a new term that made me consider the reality construction brought about development. This radical jargon rooted from the word ‘Décroissance’ (French for degrowth) that appeared as the movement for challenging the growth narratives within development practices (Demaria et al., 2013). In fact, the idea of growth as a dominant measurement for progress shows what a ‘good society’ is. However, the more I dig deeper into the basic concept of degrowth, the more I find that this idea was echoed by social movements in the Global North, in fact can be found practically in some communities in the Global South. Some degrowth proponents refer to the buen vivir (living well) in the Andes, Ubuntu (human mutuality) in Southern Africa, Kyōsei (human welfare) that articulate what is a ‘good life’ based on their practical life philosophy. Then, what I found in my country, Indonesia from the story of the Samin community in Java, made me realize its connection with the principle of
D
degrowth. Samin is also regarded as Sedulur Sikep, ‘a community famous in Java for being wise and humble fighters for environmental and social justice’ (Crosby: 2009). As such, based on this philosophy that inspired them to fight together to reject the development of the cement industry that threatened their livelihood as it would destroy the Kendeng Mountain area. The rejection is of cultural and environmental dimension in which the position of Kendeng as karst land is crucial for community livelihood. “Local water systems will be contaminated, that increased air pollution, noise and dust will reduce inhabitants’ quality of life, and that natural springs will be exhausted or fouled” (Crosby, 2009). Overall, what is seen from the local context based on the mainstream measurement of growth would be possibly ‘backward,’ in fact it practices another way of thinking that stands for a truly ‘good life’. It seems that from the local practice inspiration could escalate as a wider global movement for challenging the dominant narratives of growth.
References Hello and welcome to ISS Escobar, A. (2012) Encountering Development: The Making And Unmaking of the Third World. 2012 edn. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Kothari, A. et al. (2019) ‘Introduction: Finding Pluriversal Paths’, in Kothari, A. et al. (eds.) Pluriverse: A PostDevelopment Dictionary. New Delhi: Tulika Books, pp. xxi-xl. Norgaard, R. (2019) ‘Endorsements for Pluriverse (full)’, Radical Ecological Democracy. Available at: https://www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/pluriverse/ (Accessed: 11 April 2021). Scandella, D. (2021) ‘Doble retrato’ [Instagram]. 11 January. Available https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ6ZbF8ng6i/?igshid=da2cgpb4c1g2 (Accessed: 12 April 2021).
at:
Seascape Geiger, M. and Pécoud Antoine (2013) “Migration, Development and the ‘migration and Development Nexus,’” Population, Space and Place, 19(4), pp. 369–374. doi: 10.1002/psp.1778.
Sigiro, A.N. (2020) “Perempuan Pekerja Migran”, Jurnal Perempuan, Vol. 25 No. 3, Agustus 2020, pp. 4-6. Available at: http://www.jurnalperempuan.org/uploads/1/2/2/0/12201443/jp106_cjp.pdf (Accessed 16 April 2021). Vandenberg, P. (2015) “Ensuring the Triple Win of Labour Migration in Asia”, Asian Development Bank Institute No. 2015-1 (Apr), pp. 1-8. Available at: https://www.adb.org/publications/ensuring-triple-winlabor-migration-asia (Accessed 2 February 2021). Collaborative Governance in Action Ansell, C. and Gash, A. (2007) ‘Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, pp. 2-29, DOI: 10.1093/jopart/mum032 (Accessed: 14 November 2020) Dapaviva Foundation (2018) ‘House in the clouds', Available at: https://bicionarios.com/la-casa-en-lasnubes/ini-verde/ (Accessed: 6 April 2021).
Module 2: Session 7: Theory, practice and politics of collaborative governance in urban development projects in ISS 2101 The Making of Development. Available at: Martinez, S. (2020) ‘Group 10’,
canvas.eur.nl (Accessed: 05 April 2021) C K (2020) ‘Group 10’, Module 2: Session 7: Theory, practice and politics of collaborative governance in urban development projects in ISS 2101 The Making of Development. Available at: Mugoto,
canvas.eur.nl (Accessed: 05 April 2021). Prakoso, S and Dewi, J (2018) ‘Child-friendly integrated public spaces (RPTRA): Uses and sense of attachment'. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 126(1) pp. 1-14, Available at: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/126/1/012199/meta (Accessed: 6 April 2021). Pro Lansekap Indonesia (2021) ‘RPTRA JAKARTA SELATAN’, Available http://prolansekapindonesia.co.id/project/rptra-jakarta-selatan/ (Accessed 6 April 2021).
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The Herald (2020) 'Land developers given ultimatum’, Available at: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.herald.co.zw/land-developers-given-ultimatum/amp/ (Accessed: 6 April 2020). Van Stapele, N. (2020) ‘Collaborative governance and social justice in urban development’ [PowerPoint presentation] ISS 2101 The Making of Development. Available at: canvas.eur.nl (Accessed: 05 April 2021).
Body Politics Gallo-Cruz, S. (2020). The women’s peace movement in Liberia. Political Invisibility and Mobilization, 100139. doi:10.4324/9781003014416-4 Lawson, E., & Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Feminist Research. (2020, January 20). How women bring about peace and change in Liberia. Retrieved April 17, 2021, from https://theconversation.com/how-women-bring-about-peace-and-change-in-liberia-86670 Leymah Gbowee. (2021, February 16). Retrieved https://achievement.org/achiever/leymah-gbowee/#gallery
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Degrowth Crosby, A. (2009) Too precious to mine. Available at: https://www.insideindonesia.org/too-precious-tomine [Accessed April 17, 2021]. Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F. and Martinez-Alier, J., (2013) What is Degrowth? From an Activist Slogan to a Social Movement. Environmental Values, 22(2), pp.191-215. 10.2307/23460978 [Accessed April 17, 2021]. Others Rutazibwa, O. (2017). ‘On babies and bathwater: decolonizing international development studies’. In Decolonization and feminisms in global teaching and learning, New York: Routledge, pp. 158- 180.
Presented on April 21st, 2021
Course: Encounters of Development International Institute of Social Studies Erasmus University Rotterdam The Hague, The Netherlands
Authors: Arunima Dey - SPD Cliff Mugoto - SJP Azrina Darmayani - SJP Angeline Kamara - GDP Muh Fardan Ngoyo - AFES Giulianna Delgadillo - SJAFES
Edited by: Giulianna Delgadillo