The destructive and competitive values that sustain capitalism and that legitimate hierarchy – and which are relentlessly pushed throughout society – often undermine the work we try to take forward with people in so much of the work we do in the broader community. It’s so important to challenge these, and to articulate an alternate value set, not only in what we say, but also in what we do. The “Trade School” initiative in our home-town of Pietermaritzburg is a great practical example of “solidarity practices that reinforce values of mutualism, cooperation, social justice, democracy, and ecological sustainability”.
The Pietermaritzburg -based collective that runs Trade School 2016 has created an accessible platform where “anyone can be a teacher and anyone can be a student”. Those who want to teach offer to run a class; & those who want to learn sign up for what the session/s they want– no money changes hands, but learners bring things the teachers ask for as barter, because learning and knowledge has value after all!
Read the full padkos serving here