WEAVING ALTERNATIVES
#20:
A periodical of the
Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
REMEMBERING
BANDUNG,
REIMAGINING
FUTURES
JULY
2026
The
contents of
this
periodical are
also available
online on this webpage.
When
we began
planning for
this second
in-person
Assembly in
mid-2025, our
initial
intention was
to organise it
in Nepal.
Working with
colleagues
there, we were
also hoping to
support the
emergence of a
South Asia
weaver and
deepen the
weaving
process in the
region.
However,
the situation
in Nepal began
to shift quite
significantly.
The Gen Z
protests
opened up the
possibility of
a different
kind of
politics,
creating a
momentum
unlike
anything the
country had
seen in recent
years. As the
political
context moved
towards
elections and
a wider
reconfiguration,
it became
clear that
organising the
Assembly there
would not be
possible. We
had to begin
looking
elsewhere.
It
was important
for us to hold
the Assembly
in Asia this
time, after
the first one
in Kenya. We
reached out to
our colleagues
in Southeast
Asia,
particularly MASSA,
who
were busy
planning their own assembly
in Siem Reap,
Cambodia, in
November 2025.
From those
conversations,
and the energy
emerging from
that Assembly,
the
possibility of
Indonesia as a
host began to
take shape.
Our
Indonesian
colleagues at
KPRI shared
that, even
amid a
tightening
political
environment,
hosting the
Assembly could
carry deeper
meaning. It
could
contribute to
the ongoing
processes of
alternatives
within the
country and
connect to the
wider churn in
Indonesian
politics under
the present
regime.
We
initially
explored
Yogyakarta,
often
considered
Indonesia’s
cultural
capital. But
given the
increasingly
securitised
environment
and ongoing
mobilisations
by youth and
workers, it
became clear
that
organising
there would be
difficult and
potentially
risky. It was
at this point
that KPRI
proposed
Bandung.
Bandung
brought both
political
depth and
practical
grounding. It
is
historically
linked to the
Asia–Africa
Conference of
1955, a moment
that
symbolised
anti-colonial
solidarity and
the assertion
of autonomy by
newly
independent
nations. At
the same time,
it is a place
where strong
grassroots
networks and
alternative
practices are
rooted. Our
hosts felt
confident that
they could
hold the
Assembly
there,
politically
and
logistically.
The choice
felt right,
not only for
what Bandung
represents
historically,
but for what
it continues
to make
possible.
Yet
even as we
were settling
on Bandung and
working
through the
practical
arrangements,
the wider
world seemed
to be entering
a still more
dangerous
moment. The
genocide in
Gaza had not
stopped. The
violence had
already
consumed
countless
lives and had
exposed, once
again, the
brutality and
impunity of
the global
order. Then
came the
attacks on
Iran by Israel
and the United
States, and
with them a
new
uncertainty
over the wider
Gulf,
international
travel, flight
routes, and
whether people
from different
parts of the
world would be
able to reach
Indonesia at
all.
For
some time,
even the
possibility of
meeting felt
uncertain.
Comrades
travelling
from Latin
America,
including
Mexico,
Colombia and
Argentina,
were worried
about
disruptions,
cancellations
and the risks
of long
journeys
through an
increasingly
unstable
world. Yet
there was also
a shared sense
that we had to
meet precisely
because of the
times we were
living
through. If
war,
militarisation
and violence
were closing
down the
possibilities
of collective
life, then
those working
for
alternatives,
rooted in
territories
and struggling
to create
different
worlds, had to
keep finding
ways to come
together.
We
were not
willing to let
the violence
of the world
determine that
we should
remain
separated.
There was
worry, but
also hope and
an
unmistakable
excitement.
People were
determined to
travel, to
meet, to
listen and to
spend time
together. In
the end, they
came.
When
we finally
arrived at
Imah Seniman,
surrounded by
trees, water
and the
mountain
landscape, the
anxiety of the
preceding
weeks began to
lift. There
was relief,
but also
energy. It
felt worth the
uncertainty
and the risks
that people
had taken to
be there. The
place itself
seemed to hold
us, reminding
us that
gathering in
such times was
not separate
from our
politics. It
was part of
it.
But
hosting a
global
Assembly is
not only about
finding a
place or
overcoming the
practical
difficulties
of getting
there. It is
also about
asking what
kind of space
we are trying
to build.
As
you will see
across the
articles,
reflections
and reports in
this issue, GTA has,
over the past
six years,
been engaging
with a deeper
set of
questions. As
we weave
alternatives
across
territories,
how do we also
embody those
values within
our own
processes?
What does it
mean to be a
process rather
than a
conventional
organisation?
These
questions are
not abstract.
They show up
in very
practical
ways. We work
across
different
political
cultures,
languages and
histories. The
same words
carry
different
meanings. What
feels natural
in one context
can feel
uncomfortable
or even
hierarchical
in another.
Even something
as simple as
how a
gathering is
organised, who
speaks, or how
space is held
can be read
differently.
Rather
than smoothing
over these
differences,
we are
learning to
sit with them.
Some
of the
questions we
continue to
work through
are: how can
the Assembly
become a space
that is
collectively
owned, while
still being
able to take
decisions? How
do we ensure
that weavers
remain
central? What
roles do
endorsers
play? How do
we avoid the
facilitation
team becoming
the centre
that drives
everything?
How do we move
towards a
greater
sharing of
responsibility,
accountability
and power?
Alongside
this, there
are questions
of care. How
do we look
after one
another within
this process?
How do we
create
structures
that allow new
thematic work
to emerge
without
becoming
siloed? How do
we strengthen
interweaving
across
struggles and
geographies?
And how do we
ensure that in
times of
crisis, we can
stand with and
support one
another
meaningfully?
There
are no ready
answers. What
you will
encounter in
this issue,
through its
articles,
poems,
reflections
and reports,
are moments
from this
ongoing
journey. We
are still
building the
path. If we
had a fixed
blueprint,
this would not
be a weaving
process.
We
continue to
understand GTA
as a living
and evolving
process,
shaped as much
by questions
as by answers.
This issue is
an invitation
into that
process: of
weaving,
learning,
unlearning and
building, both
in the world
and within
ourselves.
We
hope you will
read it in
that spirit,
engage with it
and continue
the
conversation
with us.
Editorial
team: Madhuresh
Kumar, Beatriz
von Sanger and
Franco
Augusto.
Feature
Articles
Three Woven Threads,
a Global
Assembly,
Bandung 2026
Xochitl
Leyva Solano
I write
this text
against the
current. I
wake up at
four in the
morning,
motivated by
not forgetting
what we
experienced in
Bandung and by
the words that
several of my
companions
from the
Global Tapestry of Alternatives (GTA)
have written.
It is not
about
competing but
about painting
with many
hands,
collectively,
in common,
mirroring for
each other
what we
experienced
that April of
2026. I hope
we achieve
this, and this
issue of the
GTA newsletter
becomes an
edifying
exercise that
continues to
nourish us as
the assembly
did.
Keep reading ->
Weaving New Hope from
Bandung
Anwar
Sastro Ma'ruf
The second
Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
(GTA)
Assembly, held
in Bandung in
April 2026,
carried a
significance
that went far
beyond that of
an
international
conference. It
coincided with
the
commemoration
of the spirit
of the
Asian-African
Conference, or
the Bandung
Spirit, a
historic
milestone when
the nations of
Asia and
Africa
collectively
declared their
determination
to end
colonialism
and struggle
for
independence,
sovereignty,
and solidarity
among nations.
Keep reading ->
On Assemblies
Carlos
Tornel
Listening
to how
different
communities,
peoples, and
networks
recognize
themselves
through their
own words,
practices, and
forms of
organization
gave us an
opportunity to
understand the
GTA as a
living space
of
articulation
among
alternatives
that do not
seek to be
absorbed into
a single
political
identity, but
that strive in
the
possibility of
building a
platform where
many worlds
can fit,
linked in
their
struggles and
resistance
against
capitalist
modernity.
Keep reading ->
Arriving. Grounding.
Listening.
Madhuresh
Kumar
Territory
is central to
weaving and
occupies a
special place
in many things
we do at GTA.
We often speak
about
movements,
communities
and
alternatives,
but they never
exist in
isolation.
They emerge
from
somewhere.
They are
shaped by
rivers and
forests, by
mountains and
fields, by
memories
carried across
generations,
by the
languages
people speak
and the
histories they
inherit. We
too arrive
carrying our
territories.
None of us
comes
empty-handed.
We carry our
landscapes
within us,
whether we
realise it or
not.
Keep reading ->
Learning to Stay,
Learn, and
Build Together
Pankati
Jain
In the
world where we
want to keep
becoming more
and more
powerful, the
assembly
questioned,
What is the
best way to
organise
ourselves so
that we
decentralise
the power even
further?
Keep reading ->
Poems from Bandung :
Voices and
Fragments
Alongside
the
conversations,
assemblies,
declarations,
and collective
work, Bandung
also gave rise
to another
form of
documentation:
poetry.
Throughout the
gathering,
participants
wrote poems to
express
experiences
that could not
always be
captured in
reports or
agreements.
These pieces
speak of
territories,
memories,
grief, hope,
friendship,
struggle, and
the many ways
of weaving
together
across
differences.
We are
grateful to
everyone who
shared their
words and are
happy to
include them
here as
another way of
remembering
the
Assembly—one
that reminds
us that
imagination,
emotion, and
creativity are
also part of
building
alternatives.
"And I Stayed"
As I
embraced this
new sense of
being,
I could feel
the breeze
through my
branches,
and let the
sun touch my
leaves.
Over time,
I learned the
language of
the bees.
Manali
Divecha
"Messy Beauty Power:
Without a
Throne"
No crown to
point to.
So the work
grows
sideways.
It spills. It
argues.
It adjourns
because the
rain came
and the alley
is flooding
again.
Lebohang
Liepollo Pheko
Keep reading ->
"A Walk in Nature"
A walk in
Nature
Skipping
between the
trees
Trees waving
to the skies
Spiders in
their webs
Waiting for
the unwary
Humbling
Peaceful
Nnimmo
Bassey
"We Come from the
Future"
Pardon us
if we are
impatient with
history
We come from
the future
Rooted in
the soil
We recall the
toil
And never
recoil
From the
struggles to
defend Mother
Earth
Fixated on the
innermost core
That built our
past
We stand on
fresh memories
of defeated
colonialism,
neocolonialism,
coloniality
and mad
imperialism
Nnimmo
Bassey
Keep reading ->
"I am Water"
I am water
your
beginning,
your becoming,
the only home
that moves
with you.
Lubna
Qadri
"Like Falling Leaves"
We start
with a
detachment
from
the branch,
after having
lived a life
before.
Shail
Shrestha
Keep reading ->
Updates from Weavers
The Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
is a “network
of networks”.
Each of those
networks acts
in different
parts of the
planet by
identifying
and connecting
Alternatives.
They are the Weavers.
In the
following
section, our
Weavers, the
networks that
currently
weaves it,
from India,
South-East
Asia,
Colombia, and
Mexico shares
updates from
their recent
activities and
actions.
Bandung and Beyond -
Vikalp Sangam
The Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
(GTA) second
physical
Assembly in
Bandung,
Indonesia,in
April 2026
brought
together
movements,
communities,
collectives,
and
organisations
from across
the world
committed to
nurturing
alternatives
rooted in
justice,
autonomy, and
care for the
Earth. This
was the second
time that
members of
Vikalp Sangam
participated
collectively
in the
assembly.
Keep reading ->
Weaving
Mutual Rearing
Mexico -
Crianza Mutua
Mexico
In Bandung,
we wove
together with
collectives,
organizations,
and
communities
from different
parts of the
world amid
rituals,
cultures,
food, group
reflections,
shared
struggles,
territorial
journeys, and
local
alternatives.
All of this
took place
within the
framework of
the Second
Physical
Assembly of
the Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
(GTA), where
life was
always placed
at the center.
Representatives from Crianza Mutua México (CMM)
who inhabit
the
territories of
Chiapas,
Mexico City,
Coahuila,
Jalisco,
Oaxaca, and
Veracruz
participated
in the event.
Keep reading ->
MASSA (Movement for
Alternatives
and Solidarity
in Southeast
Asia)
MASSA,
together with
Konfederasi
Pergerakan
Rakyat
Indonesia
(KPRI) in
Indonesia,
hosted the
second
in-person
Assembly of
the Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
in Bandung,
with support
from Serikat
Petani
Pasundan
(SPP). It was
a great honour
for them to
welcome the
GTA into their
territories,
grounding the
Assembly in
the histories,
struggles and
practices of
people’s
movements in
Indonesia. The
hosting itself
reflected the
spirit of the
GTA; rooted,
collective,
and shaped by
those who live
the
alternatives
on the ground.
Keep reading ->
Updates from
Endorsers
An Endorser is
an
organization,
collective or
thematic
network that
publicly
expresses its
support to the
GTA process,
and is aligned
to its vision
and values. Endorsers are
invited by, or
when
self-invited,
endorsed by,
the
Facilitation
Team, and then
approved by
the Assembly.
Learn
more about
Endorsers
May First Movement
Technology
In April,
May First
Movement
Technology
convened its
annual
membership
meeting,
beginning with
a political
conversation
titled “Tech
for Liberation
Not War” read
here. The
discussion
situated big
tech
infrastructure
within broader
systems of war
and
militarisation,
opening a
collective
reflection on
how movements
can sustain
emancipatory
digital tools
in an
ecosystem
increasingly
shaped by
repression and
control.
Voices from
the Tadamun
Antimili
Collective and
the Grassroots
Global Justice
Alliance
contributed to
this dialogue.
Since the
meeting, May
First has
continued to
engage with
emerging
technological
questions,
particularly
the expansion
of corporate
AI and data
infrastructures.
This included
a webinar,
“Rewriting the
AI Narrative,
from Paralysis
towards
Radical
Imagination” read
more,
co-organised
with the
Progressive
Technology
Project and
Climate
Justice
Alliance. The
conversation
explored how
dominant
narratives
around AI are
becoming
polarised and
disconnected
from lived
realities,
while inviting
participants
to reflect on
how these
technologies
might be
re-imagined
within
movements.
Alongside
these
political and
conceptual
engagements,
May First has
also
strengthened
its
operational
capacity,
completing a
long-term
redesign of
its server
infrastructure,
investing in
new systems,
and welcoming
a new team
member to
support its
growing
network and
work.
You can
reach May
First at
in...@mayfirst.org,
and subscribe
to their
updates here: newsletter
subscription.
Neustart Schweiz
Neustart
Schweiz has
renewed its
endorsement of
the Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
and continues
to contribute
to
conversations
on systemic
transformation.
They share a
range of
resources
emerging from
their ongoing
work,
including
their website, neustartschweiz.ch,
and their
discourse
platform newalliance.earth,
which is
available in
13 languages
and aims to
foster
dialogue
across diverse
contexts.
They also
highlight
their recent
publication, Cities
For A Single
Planet (November
2025),
available
through autonomedia.org,
which engages
with questions
of urban
transformation
in an era of
ecological
limits.
The US Solidarity
Economy
Network
(USSEN)
The US
Solidarity
Economy
Network
(USSEN) ussen.org continues
to build
momentum
alongside the
Resist and
Build network
in preparation
for the next
movement
summit,
scheduled for
October 2026
in Denver,
Colorado resistandbuild.net.
Previous
summits, held
in Atlanta
(2025) and
Richmond
(2023), have
brought
together
organisations
working on
solidarity
economy and
systems change
to deepen
relationships,
strengthen
collaboration,
and cultivate
spaces of
shared
learning and
transformative
culture summit
goals.
In May, the
USSEN Board
also held an
in-person
retreat
focused on
sharpening its
political
analysis in
response to
the current
conjuncture.
While
recognising
the
intensification
of crises and
violence
associated
with
late-stage
capitalism,
participants
reflected on
the growing
vitality of
grassroots
efforts to
build
alternatives
grounded in
solidarity,
justice, care,
and community.
USSEN remains
energised by
these
developments
and committed
to
strengthening
the broader
movement for
systemic
transformation.
Updates from GTA
GTA Virtual Assembly
As part of
its ongoing
process, GTA
held its Virtual Assembly on
24 July 2026,
bringing
together
weavers,
endorsers, and
collaborators
from different
territories to
reconnect and
continue
advancing the
collective
work between
in-person
gatherings.
As the
first Virtual
Assembly
following the
Bandung
Gathering, the
session opened
with a brief
recap of the
Assembly,
including
visual
documentation,
a presentation
of the Bandung
Narrative
Report, and a
reflection on
the Bandung
Declaration
and its main
outcomes. This
provided a
shared point
of departure
for
participants
who had
attended the
Assembly as
well as those
joining the
process
afterwards.
A
significant
part of the
meeting was
dedicated to
small group
conversations.
Participants
exchanged
updates on the
alternatives
they are
building in
their own
territories
and reflected
on the common
threads that
continue to
weave the
Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
together.
During the
plenary, each
group shared
key themes
emerging from
their
discussions,
highlighting
common
concerns
around
territorial
defence,
community
self-organization,
mutual care,
transformative
education,
youth
participation,
ecological
relationships,
and global
solidarity
rooted in
local
realities.
The
Assembly also
included a
follow-up on
the processes
initiated in
Bandung.
Working Groups
and Thematic
Groups shared
updates on
their ongoing
work, invited
new
participants
to join their
activities,
and reflected
on priorities
for the coming
months.
Participants
also reviewed
collective
responsibilities
emerging from
the Bandung
Assembly and
discussed ways
to strengthen
communication,
collaboration,
and
participation
across the
network.
The meeting
concluded by
identifying
next steps for
the different
working
processes,
sharing
resources and
upcoming
events, and
reaffirming
the importance
of the Virtual
Assemblies as
spaces for
maintaining
relationships,
strengthening
collaboration,
and continuing
to weave the
Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
between
in-person
gatherings.
GTA Working & Thematic Groups
Working Groups
Within the
Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives,
Working Groups
are spaces
oriented
towards
concrete
collective
work. They
focus on
developing
specific
outputs such
as shared
tools,
platforms,
publications,
or processes
that support
the weaving of
alternatives
across
regions. These
groups emerge
from common
needs
identified
within the
network and
are grounded
in practical
collaboration,
experimentation, and shared learning.
Thematic Groups
Thematic
Groups within
the Global
Tapestry of
Alternatives
are spaces for
deeper
reflection,
dialogue, and
collective
sense-making
around key
systemic
questions
shaping
alternatives
to the
dominant
system. Rather
than being
driven by
predefined
outputs, these
groups explore
broader
political,
conceptual,
and material
themes over
time. Through
deliberation,
research, and
exchange, they
help
articulate
shared
understandings,
imaginaries,
and pathways,
from which
concrete
initiatives
and
collaborations
may also
emerge.
Read the full
report
Resources & Publications from
Bandung
The
conversations
and
relationships
nurtured
during the
Bandung
Assembly have
already
inspired a
number of
publications,
reflections
and collective
documents.
Below is a
selection of
resources that
emerged
directly from,
or were
enriched by,
the Assembly.
Weaving Hope
in Times of
Crisis,
Bandung
Assembly
Report
The
detailed
narrative
report of the
Bandung
Assembly,
brings
together the
many
processes,
conversations,
and
experiences
that unfolded
over the week.
It captures
the journey of
the gathering;
from field
visits and
collective
rituals to
thematic
sessions and
informal
exchanges;
offering a
sense of how
relationships
were built and
ideas were
shared across
contexts. The
report
reflects both
the richness
and the
challenges of
coming
together as a
diverse
network, while
holding on to
the spirit of
weaving that
defines the
GTA. It serves
as a way to
carry forward
the memory of
the Assembly
and continue
the
conversations
it opened up.
We invite you
to read the
full report here.
People’s Bandung Declaration
Following
the Assembly,
GTA released
the People’s
Bandung
Declaration as
a collective
articulation
of the moment
we are living
through and
the responses
emerging from
movements,
communities,
and
territories
across the
world. Rooted
in the
conversations
and encounters
in Bandung, it
brings
together a
shared
political
understanding
of the
deepening
ecological,
social, and
civilisational
crises, while
foregrounding
the many
alternatives
already being
lived. The
Declaration
reaffirms a
commitment to
autonomy,
justice,
dignity, and
care, and
calls for
strengthening
solidarities
from below
across
geographies.
It is both a
reflection and
an invitation;
to recognise
these
struggles, to
deepen them,
and to walk
together
towards
pluriversal
futures beyond
dominant
systems. We
invite you to
read and
engage with
the full
Declaration here.
Radical
Democracy:
Recovering the
Roots of
Self-governance
& Autonomy
This
compilation
gathers
stories of
radical
democracy and
autonomy
precisely to
contribute to
that lifeline.
The essays and
narratives
collected here
are not
abstract
theorizing—they
are grounded
experiments
and lived
realities:
communities
practicing
self‐governance;
indigenous
collectives
reclaiming
land, culture,
and
decision‐making;
solidarities
forged across
borders
resisting
extractivism
and
marginalization.
Each story
reflects one
of the core
objectives of
the GTA:
networking and
solidarity;
knowledge
sharing;
amplifying
alternative
models; and
fostering
systemic
transformation.
By drawing
these diverse
threads into
dialogue, this
book aims to
strengthen the
tapestry,
offering both
inspiration
and critical
reflection for
practitioners,
activists,
scholars, and
anyone
yearning to
reimagine
democracy not
merely as a
form of
government but
as a lived,
relational,
morally
grounded
process of
autonomy. Read more here.
Publications from Bandung
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