Art and alternative languages from social and ethnic groups, for thinking and action alternatives
I had the opportunity to read different versions of the document “No Limits to Hope” and make brief comments in emails exchanged with Mario Salomone. The following comments and suggestions are highly pertinent to a project such as this, in this historic moment.
Regarding the reasoning, the “No Limits to Hope” Initiative presents a universalist connotation, considering the human species responsible for the problems and challenges that must be faced (“how WE think and act”).
However, there are social and ethnic groups that have proposed and propose other alternatives for thinking and acting, groups who have until recently been considered savage or uncivilised and therefore outside or on the fringes of that universal “WE”.
The contemporary importance of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America is an example of this. Books such as “The Falling Sky” by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert (published in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese) and “I, Rigoberta Menchú. An Indian Woman in Guatemala” bring key elements to the historical expansion of planetary challenges, as does the work of Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe. The positioning in the NLtH document regarding notions of progress and civilisation is highly important, even if discreet. It is essential to add, with greater emphasis, criticism of models of economic development, including sustainable development, which have already been intensely criticised in recent decades, yet which continue to be present and powerful in international institutions.
Against militarism and the misuse of science and innovation
Among the problems and challenges against which we must unite all our efforts is the “continued militarism and other misuse of science and innovation”. One possibility (pedagogic, cultural, and political) to counter militarism (and, I might add, totalitarianism and negationism) certainly relates to the new “learning models, which could be anticipatory, participatory, integrative and innovative”. In this sense, pedagogic experiences developed in countries that live with or have lived through authoritarian governments, genocides, civil wars, etc., must be acknowledged and disseminated.
The document references Paulo Freire’s work in Brazil, and I would add that his political and pedagogic theory has been studied and practised in different countries. In recent decades, new generations in innumerable nations have re-signified it, remaining increasingly pertinent and necessary.
To close, I would call attention to the importance of the arts in general, which develop languages that focus on perception, respect, and coexistence with otherness and others-than-humans, aimed at the common good. We must establish dialogues and partnerships with artists who have included contemporary themes and challenges in their everyday activities, amplifying and practising the transdisciplinarity the document suggests.
This contribution is part of the comments and suggestions on the document ‘No limits to hope: Transforming learning for better futures‘.
