By Tasneem Behardien
Participating in the Solidarity Hub hosted by Act Ubumbano in Johannesburg was a refreshing opportunity to engage with questions of power, governance, solidarity and self-reflexivity in our organising practices. Over the course of the few days, the immersive process created space to experience some of the dynamics that shape how we organise, mobilise, make decisions and relate to one another through the means of a simulation of the systems of governance related to the election process, bringing these questions beyond theory and into practice.
One of the things that stood out for me was observing how people navigate power, how collective dynamics unfold, and how our values and principles can be tested when we are working towards a particular outcome. It brought into focus the relationship between what we stand for and how we practise it, and the importance of examining the ways in which our organising practices reflect, challenge or sometimes reproduce the very systems we seek to transform.
During the reflective discussions, I was particularly drawn to the questions of how we remain aligned with our values and principles while allowing for change, and how we understand burnout in relation to care. Drawing on my coaching practice, I facilitated a conversation that explored individual values, the principles and non-negotiables that emerge from them, and what it means to translate these into practical ways of working together. We also considered the importance of recognising our capacity, asking for help, lightening our loads and acknowledging when there may be a fundamental diversities, differences in interpretation and rules around our values and even misalignment of values.
These conversations resonated with my own practice and the work of Cape Town Stitch to Resist (CTS2R), an initiative working at the intersections of art, handcraft, heritage, cultural practices, marginalised and Indigenous communities, social impact and the environment. With textile, thread, fibre and the practices of community making at the centre of our work, we engage handcraft as more than a creative medium. Our premise is one of peaceful resistance as subversive stitch: creating artworks and cultural works that honour people’s lives, heritage, cultures and lived experiences, while bringing attention to the knowledge, labour, stories and cultural practices of communities and practitioners who have historically been overlooked or marginalised. Through making, storytelling and dialogue, we seek to recognise the people behind these practices and create space for cultural continuity, expression and solidarity.
Given the intersections within which we work, questions of power, representation, whose knowledge is valued, and how we engage with communities are integral to our practice. So too are the values and ethics that inform our relationships, collaborations and decision-making. As CTS2R continues to grow and develop its organisational capacity, we are navigating how to bring more people into the work, distribute responsibilities and create the conditions for collective participation without losing sight of the values and principles that underpin our vision.
For me, this raises ongoing questions about how we allow an organisation to evolve while remaining grounded in its purpose. How do we create room for change without compromising what is foundational? How do we build collective capacity without placing the responsibility for sustaining a vision on one or a few individuals? And how do we ensure that the ways in which we organise reflect the change we seek to bring about?
We approach these questions as part of an ongoing practice of reflection, analysis and questioning. For myself, this resonates deeply, as I am often energised by the nuance between the bigger picture and the smaller, often less visible elements that can collectively strengthen or undermine the path towards our goals. I consider how individual decisions, relationships, structures and ways of working intersect, and how these seemingly separate elements contribute to the broader vision we are working towards.
What I appreciated about the Solidarity Hub was being in a space where this kind of reflection was brought to the forefront as part of a shared and immersive process. It was refreshing to engage with others in interrogating these questions, encountering different perspectives and considering the complexities and contradictions inherent in our organising practices. The experience offered an opportunity to reflect alongside others.
I leave the experience continuing to engage with the questions it surfaced, remaining curious about the tensions we encounter and open to examining the assumptions and practices that shape our work. For me, self-reflexivity is not about arriving at definitive answers or eliminating every contradiction. It is about maintaining a willingness to question, analyse and engage honestly with what emerges as we organise, build relationships and work towards change.
Ultimately, self-reflexivity in our organising practices requires us to consider the relationship between our vision, our values and the means through which we pursue them. It asks us to remain attentive to both the broader systems we seek to transform and the everyday decisions, relationships and practices through which we engage in that transformation. For me, this ongoing process of reflection, questioning and curiosity is integral to the work itself, and to building something that remains both true to its foundations and capable of evolving towards the future we envision.
Tasneem Behardien
Founder, Creative Lead and Chairperson
319-575 NPO
In Kindness
Founder, Creative Lead and Chairperson
319-575 NPO
