A series of books from integralMENTORS Integral UrbanHub work on Thriving people & Thriveable Cities. No one vision is sufficient in and of itself – visions can guide but only by collaborative action in a creative generative process can visions grow and become part of an ongoing positive sociocultural reality. Without taking into account the many worldviews that currently co-exist and crafting ways of including them in a positive and healthy form we will continue to alienate vast sections of all communities of humankind.

1. IntegralUrbanHub
a meta-pragmatic approach
Thriveable Worlds
Post-activism
2
3
U
rban
Hub
Paul van Schaik
integralMENTORS

2. Urban Hub
Post-activism
intergalMENTORS
Integral UrbanHub
32
Thriveable Worlds

3. Copyright ©©integralMENTORS– July 2023
‘In fullness and Freedom
A graphic series of integralMENTORS integral UrbanHub co-lab on Thriveable Cities-Worlds.
Founder & Managing Editor Paul van Schaik
“keepers of dreams”
Irrupting consciousness

4. These book includes ‘tastes’
of ideas, theories, graphics,
praxis, and quotes, to spark
interest for further
explorations
Best explored with the previous volumes in the series

5. What is this series?
A collection of visions, ideas, ideas, theories, actions, etc. that give rise to a
taste of the many visions in our world.
How we use all the best elements of the many worldviews, modern and
ancient, visible and still hidden, together and in collaboration, will define how
successful we are.
It is the morphogenetic pull of caring that will determine how we succeed as a
human race. It is the ability and need to generate an equitable, fair, resilient
and regenerative ‘system’ that must drive us forward.
The means will be a combination of many of the ideas showcased here but
many more still to be discovered on our exciting journey into the future. Held
together through a Integral Mythological Pluralistic approach.
Sharing and listening to stories, philosophies, cosmologies and metaphysical
understanding of each other and through experimentation, research and
archology developing theories, praxis, and activities/interventions to move
towards a more caring world of people, cultures, caring for the planet and
systems of which are all a part.
Too little courage and we will fail – too much certainty and we will fail. But with
care and collaboration we have a chance of success. Bringing forth emergent
impact through innovation, syngeneic enfoldment & collaborative effort.
A deeper understanding of a broader framework will be required – this would
be more that an integral vision and beyond the Eurocentric AQAL & SDI.
Explore and enjoy – use as many of the ideas as possible (from the whole series)
enfolding each into an emergent whole that grows generatively.
At each step testing – reformulating – regrouping – recreating.
Moving beyond, participating, through stake-holding, through share-holding, to
becoming thrive-holders.
Thetimesareurgent;
letusslowdown.
Slowingdownisthusabout
lingeringintheplacesweare
notusedto.Seekingoutnew
questions.
Becomingaccountabletomore
thanwhatrestsonthesurface.
Seekingroots.
BayoAkomolafe

6. Other Worlds
Walking in the world not talking of the world
No one vision is sufficient in and of itself – visions can guide
but only by collaborative action in a creative generative
process can visions grow and become part of an ongoing
positive sociocultural reality.
Without taking into account the many worldviews that
currently co-exist and crafting ways of including them in a
positive and healthy form we will continue to alienate vast
sections of all communities and humankind.
It is through the cultivation of healthy versions of all the
different worldviews that we can attempt to move towards an
equitable, regenerative and caring world living within the
planetary boundaries.
Through action we will move forward – through only
ongoing talk we will stagnate and fail.
These curation are to be dipped into – explored and used to
generate ideas and discussion.
A catalyst for collaboration and action.
And most importantly grown, modified in a generative form.
For more detail of integral theory and Framework see
earlier books in this series.
This is a living series - any suggestions for inclusion in the next
volume send to: Paul.vanschaik@integralmentors.org
Dan Gluibizzi

7. Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen

9. Framing
Cracks
Post-activism
Bayo Akomolafe
Tyson Yunkaporta
Indigenous cosmologies
Indigenous knowledge
Animism
Worldviews
Post-activist Project
The Emergent Network (TEN)
Vunja Project
Decolonisation
Degrowth
Other
Annex
The Magic Mythic World: Rock art
Books

10. People do not perceive
worlds but enact them.
Different worldviews bring
forth different worlds.

12. Framing The integral leap implies an integration of all structures, a waring.
This integration does not belong to the mental structure’s capacity
for wakeful synthesis, generalization, or categorization. “A mere
conscious illumination of these states, which are for the most part
only dimly conscious, does not achieve anything,” Gebser writes,
“in fact, to illuminate these states is to destroy them.”
We should be mindful of this when we consider magical and
mythical realities. When we prioritize perspectival wakefulness over
unperspectival consciousness in a linear fashion of superior
consciousness, there, again, is the colonization of the starry twilight
worlds (and the folly of the mental is that these twilight worlds
ultimately hijack the waking ego in novel ways); like lifting a rock to
peer at the underworld in the light of the sun.
Furthermore, to merely portray the unfoldment of the structures
with the now default mentality of perspectival consciousness—in
terms of gains, advancement, and progress—would be to fixate
them into spatial reality (where the structures become refashioned
as stages and placed higher, or lower, in a developmental ladder).
For instance: is the imagistic psyche of the mythic structure
developmentally and categorically inferior or “lesser” to the mental
structure’s waking, discursive ego?
The latter may unfold from the former, but their relationship is
more akin to an organism’s morphology: the petal to its stem, or
the branches to the roots.
Or even the qualitative “morphology” of consciousness states
themselves: between waking, dreaming, and deep dreamless
sleep, these states make up the dynamic wholeness of every
human being.
Johnson, Jeremy D. Seeing Through the World (Nuralogicals)

13. Framing Jean Gebser suggests that both cultural and
psychological processes can be parsed into five non-
hierarchical “structures” or “mutations” of consciousness.
These structures are as follows:
1. Archaic Structure: In this structure, there is a lack of
differentiation and a state of oneness with the whole.
2. Magic Structure: The human has been released from his
harmony or identity with the whole, and consciousness begins to
emerge in a dream-like way.
3. Mythical Structure: The human has become self-aware and has
begun to narrate his own story.
4. Mental Structure: The human has become rational and objective
in his thinking.
5. Integral Structure: The human has become presentiated and
participates in the world.
Structures UNFOLD. They are like sections of a jigsaw puzzle or
rooms in an art museum, gradually filling in to reveal the big picture
(which already implicitly exists).
“Perspectival vision and thought confine us within spatial
limitations. The positive result is a concretion of man and space;
the negative result is the restriction of man to a limited segment,
where he perceives only one sector of reality.
Like Petrarch, who separated landscape from land, man separates
from the whole only that part which his view or thinking can
encompass, and forgets those sectors that lie adjacent, beyond, or
even behind. “

14. SELF
QUADRANTS
My
Values & Mindset
Our
Culture &
WorldViews
Our
Society & Systems
My
Behaviour &
Lifestyle
domains in which I am embedded
What binds us
Wilber’s AQAL Quadrants
The 4 basic domains of Self
Framing

15. Framing
’ viewed from a
personal perspective
–
through personal
mindsets & values
‘viewed from a social
& systems
perspective
–
(data and
observation driven)
viewed from an
empirical perspective
–
(data and
observation driven)
viewed from a
cultural perspective
–
through group
culture & worldviews
PERSPECTIVE (city)
QUADRIVIA
What binds us
Wilber’s AQAL Quadrants
The 4 basic perspectives

16. Framing The very performance of being human is irreparably bound up
with the painful legacies of dispossession, the geological cuts of
imperialism that sliced away the homelands of black, brown and
white bodies. In other words, the ‘human’ is a territory, not just an
item within a geographical space.
The human is the earth-shaping cartographical project and
metaphysics of discovery that pushed the tips of knives into the
nails of indigenous shores, cutting trees, clearing open spaces,
conducting genocidal rampages to create a home in the faraway.
The human is the layered vortex of forward-facing temporalities,
mind over dead matter philosophies, instrumentalized nature, the
myth of the hero whose freedom and persistence triumphs over
the savages, and entrepreneurial hope.
When we speak of hope today, whether it is hope for redemption,
hope for a political saviour, hope for a solution that deals a mortal
blow to the climatic troubles of our days, we do well to notice that
this hope is conditioned by and purchased with painful exclusions.
With blood, mangled bones, riven backs and tired tears. This hope
is the material vector that pushes through the dark, that explodes a
mountain because it is in the way. This hope infects us all, manages
our expectations and keeps from view other possible paths for
bodily becomings.
https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/post/grounding-vunja

17. Post-activism
Bayo Akomolafe
Tyson Yunkaporta
Indigenous cosmology
Animism
Decolonisation
Degrowth

18. Post-activism
Bayo Akomolafe
Tyson Yunkaporta

19. Post-activism is a term that has been used to describe various
forms of social and political engagement that challenge the
conventional understanding and practice of activism.
Activism, according to one definition, is "a doctrine or practice that
emphasises direct vigorous action especially in support of or
opposition to one side of a controversial issue"¹.
Post-activism, on the other hand, questions the assumptions and
limitations of such a binary and confrontational approach to social
change.
It can be seen as a response to the crisis of representation and
legitimacy that has affected many traditional forms of activism in
the context of neoliberalism, post-democracy and post-politics.
These terms refer to the erosion of democratic participation and
deliberation, the emergence of a consensus around market-
oriented policies and values, and the depoliticisation of
contentious issues ².
Post-activism seeks to politicise beyond post-politics, by exploring
new ways of articulating and enacting dissent, difference and
democracy.
Post-activism is not a unified or coherent movement, but rather a
diverse and dynamic field of experimentation and innovation.
Some examples of post-activist practices are: prefigurative politics,
which aim to create alternative forms of social organisation and
interaction in the here and now; performative politics, which use
creative and expressive means to challenge dominant narratives
and norms; networked politics, which rely on digital technologies
and platforms to connect and mobilise across borders and
boundaries; and affective politics, which appeal to emotions and
sensations rather than rational arguments and ideologies ³.
Post-activism

20. It is not without its critics and challenges.
Some have argued that post-activism is too vague, fragmented or
individualistic to achieve any meaningful or lasting change.
Others have suggested that post-activism is complicit with or co-
opted by the neoliberal system that it claims to oppose.
Still others have warned that post-activism may neglect or exclude
the voices and interests of marginalised or oppressed groups.
These debates indicate that post-activism is not a settled or final
concept, but rather an ongoing process of reflection and
transformation.
Source:
(1) Activism Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/activism.
(2) Politicisation beyond post-politics: new social activism and the ....
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14742837.2021.1872375.
(3) Activism - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activism.
Post-activism

21. Bayo Akomolafe is a philosopher, writer, activist, professor of
psychology, and executive director of The Emergence Network. He
is one of the leading voices in the field of postactivism, which he
defines as "a matter of irruptions and eruptions, breakthroughs,
cracks, flashes, fissures, fault lines, discontinuities, blasts, splits, rifts,
ruptures, seismic shifts, world-ending openings, miracles, strange
encounters, and the yawning maw of a monster" ².
His ideas on postactivism are informed by his Yoruba indigenous
cosmology, his material feminist/posthumanist sensibilities, and his
personal and professional experiences in Nigeria and India. He
challenges the dominant narratives and practices of activism that
are based on human exceptionalism, linear progress, rationality,
and certainty. He invites us to rethink our notions of agency,
identity, justice, and freedom in relation to the more-than-human
world and the pluriverse of realities.
Akomolafe's postactivism is not a passive or pessimistic stance, but
rather a creative and generative one. He proposes that we make
sanctuary in the cracks and fissures of the world, where new
possibilities and alliances can emerge. He suggests that we dance
with mountains instead of moving them, that we listen to the bones
of our ancestors instead of burying them, that we embrace the
fugitive and the monstrous instead of excluding them. He argues
that we need postactivism today because it offers us a way to re-
enchant the world and re-imagine our futures.
Source:
(1) What I Mean By Postactivism • Writings – Bayo Akomolafe.
https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/post/what-i-mean-by-postactivism.
(2) “Why We Need Postactivism Today” ft. Bayo Akomolafe.
https://centerforneweconomics.org/newsletters/why-we-need-postactivism-today-ft-
bayo-akomolafe/.
(3) When the Bones of our Ancestors Speak to Us: A Fugitive ... - Resilience.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-10-28/when-the-bones-of-our-ancestors-speak-
to-us-a-fugitive-conversation-with-bayo-akomolafe/.
architecture, the art of building
Postactivism

22. One example of Akomolafe's postactivist practice is
*ghosthugging*, which he describes as "the postactivist practice of
exercising radical hospitality to the invisible, or entering into
earnest and sympathetic alliances with that which has been
summarily excluded by our modern arrangements as irrelevant or
immaterial (ancestors, the environment, the past, nonhuman lives,
the so-called global south, black bodies, etc.)" ¹. He explains that
ghosthugging is a way of acknowledging and honouring the
presence and agency of the unseen and unheard, and of opening
up to new forms of collaboration and co-creation with them. He
writes:
- Ghosthugging is not a practice of ‘making visible’ or ‘giving
voice’ to the invisible as if we are the ones who can confer
visibility or voice upon others. It is a practice of becoming visible
ourselves, becoming audible ourselves, becoming available
ourselves – to the invisible. It is a practice of noticing how we are
already being haunted, how we are already being touched and
moved by the invisible. It is a practice of learning to respond to
these touches and movements in ways that are respectful,
curious, humble, and playful. It is a practice of becoming-with the
invisible ¹.
Akomolafe shares some stories of his own ghosthugging
experiences in his writings and talks, such as his encounter with a
sacred mountain in India, his conversation with his deceased
grandfather in Nigeria, and his participation in a ritual with
indigenous elders in Australia. He invites us to join him in
ghosthugging as a way of reimagining our relationships with
ourselves, each other, and the world. He says:
- Ghosthugging is not a technique or a method; it is an invitation
to adventure, to wonder, to mystery. It is an invitation to meet the
world anew, to discover new allies and friends, to create new
stories and possibilities. It is an invitation to be haunted by love
¹.
Post-activism

23. Bayo
Akomolafe “With nowhere to go, perhaps we could find our own way. Perhaps
we could channel our ambition into revolution, or into “building
the alternatives.”
Yet when we tried that, we discovered the same familiar ways of
thinking scaffolding our dissident organizations and our alternative
programs.
It wasn’t just that society offered us the wrong map; it was the
whole formula for making and following a map that was wrong.
We saw that the revolutionary elite behaved not much differently
from the financial elite, that countercultural idea celebrities
embodied the same basic archetype as conventional experts.
The very recipe for change-making was part of what needed to
change: the smart guys in a room coming up with a brilliant idea, a
plan, a blueprint, and then convincing the public and especially the
elites to enact a change.
And so, even the ambition to bring an important new idea into the
world was lost to us.”
Excerpt From
These Wilds Beyond Our Fences
Bayo Akomolafe

24. The exponential destruction caused by cities feeds the exponential
growth of infrastructure and population.
For this they misapply laws like supply and demand: in order for
economic growth to occur, there must be more demand than
supply.
Roughly translated, that means there must be more people
needing basic goods and services than there are goods and
services to meet their needs.
Put another way, there must be a lot of people missing out on what
they need to survive in order for the economy to grow, or in order
for anything to have value.
As the growth continues exponentially, so do the masses of people
missing out.
There is no equilibrium to be found here.
You need to stave off disruptions from those desperate masses
with bread and circuses, football and Facebook.
You need to fragment them so they are not supporting each other
in communities or extended families, otherwise your demand base
decreases.
Above all, you need them to breed like rabbits, so you make sure
their only asset is the potential energy of their children.
Yunkaporta, Tyson. Sand Talk
Post-activism

25. Tyson
Yunkaporta Sand Talk
Sand Talk is a book by Tyson Yunkaporta, an academic, arts critic
and researcher who belongs to the Apalech Clan in far north
Queensland¹.
It explores how indigenous thinking can save the world by
challenging the dominant worldview and offering a different
perspective on history, education, money, power and
sustainability².
The book is based on the author's practice of sand talk, the
Aboriginal custom of drawing images on the ground to convey
knowledge³.
It also includes 22 black-and-white illustrations that add depth to
the text².
Sand Talk is a paradigm-shifting book that invites readers to learn
from indigenous wisdom and see the world in new ways⁴.
Source:
(1) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World - Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45449501-sand-talk Accessed 19/06/2023.
(2) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sand-Talk-Indigenous-Thinking-World/dp/0062975641
Accessed 19/06/2023.
(3) Sand Talk, How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson ....
https://www.booktopia.com.au/sand-talk-tyson-yunkaporta/book/9781925773996.html
Accessed 19/06/2023.
(4) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the - Text Publishing.
https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/sand-talk Accessed 19/06/2023.

26. Tyson
Yunkaporta Sand Talk
"A common thread I've noticed through Nora's Warm Data
approach, TYLIA, and several other things recently is that for the
really important stuff, you can't come at it head-on.
I think that's part of what bothers me about a lot of the online
philosophy scene, including but not limited to the "sensemaking"
and "meaning crisis" fixations.
It's not just that there's a limit to how much talking about these
things on podcasts can accomplish, it's that talking directly about
the things tends to founder on the intractable aspects of the
problems.
"Much of the talking does have its value, as analysis can and often
does lead to insight. But I feel like there's a significant lack of
follow-through.
We analyze and analyze, and write think-pieces, record podcasts,
and host zoom calls.
But there's a whole world out there doing and being and we have
largely detached ourselves from that.
The white-maleness of online philosophy spaces is both a cause
and consequence of that, I think. It's self-reinforcing.

27. Tyson
Yunkaporta Sand Talk
Experiential
"I'm not that interested in trying to convince people of anything.
I'm a lot more interested in creating the conditions for experiences
that might cause people to reconsider things on their own (again,
see TYLIA).
Telling people things no longer works. Even showing has become
inadequate.
It is only through the felt sense of doing, together, in relationship
with each other and community, that we can truly reach through
the noise.
We're past the point of rational debate and that's a good thing!
It turns out that rational debate is too easy to game, and excludes
too much of reality to be a functional system of engagement.
I like this phrase better than "sensemaking" because it allows for
the fact that not all of life "makes sense."
Let's stop trying to fit reality into frames we construct in our heads.
Instead, let's engage with reality to create experiences that engage
each other in ways that help us understand and grow.
Psychomagic is a way to unstick ourselves and others from our
assumptions and routines, and that can create opportunities to
learn and change in unexpected ways.
Don't tell. Don't show. Do."

28. Tyson
Yunkaporta Sand Talk
"Perhaps not everyone needs this, but I find comfort in aphanipoiesis
when I find myself wondering if I'm having any sort of positive effect
on the world. Was there a point to that last art project?
Will this article (or any of my writing) have any "real"
effect? Sometimes we can tell, but often we can't. "So I think of the
streams of experience that run through us all, and the larger
experiential rivers running through cultures and ecologies.
I think of all of the paths those streams might flow through. And I
can look at what I've been doing and tell myself: Yes, I'm doing my
best to tend to these streams.
Somewhere, somewhen, downstream in the future, what I'm doing
here and now might be part of emerging positive change. And I
may never know. I may never see it.
But that doesn't make it any less real.”
How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
“It is the cultural lens that we carry everywhere with us.
Remember when I showed you a hand gesture
demonstrating that perspective, carrying the message that
Indigenous Knowledge is not about the what, but the how?
It is about process, not content. Your culture is not what
your hands touch or make—it’s what moves your hands.“
“People today will mostly focus on the points of
connection, the nodes of interest like stars in the sky. But
the real understanding comes in the spaces in-between, in
the relational forces that connect and move the points.”

29. Indigenous Cosmology
Indigenous knowledge
Animism
Worldview

30. Indigenous cosmologies are the ways that different indigenous
peoples understand and relate to the origin, structure, and
meaning of the universe and their place in it. Indigenous
cosmologies are diverse and dynamic, reflecting the cultural,
historical, and ecological contexts of each group. However, some
common features of many indigenous cosmologies are:
- The recognition of a sacred or spiritual dimension of reality, which
may be expressed as a supreme being, a creator, a great spirit, or a
cosmic order. Indigenous cosmologies often acknowledge the
existence and influence of various deities, spirits, ancestors, and
other supernatural beings that inhabit or interact with the natural
world.
- The appreciation of the interconnectedness and interdependence
of all forms of life, both human and non-human. Indigenous
cosmologies often view humans as part of a larger community or
kinship network that includes animals, plants, rocks, water, fire,
wind, stars, and other elements. Indigenous cosmologies often
respect and honour the rights and responsibilities of all beings,
and seek to maintain a balance and harmony among them.
- The celebration of diversity and multiplicity as expressions of the
creativity and generosity of the source of life. Indigenous
cosmologies often value and respect the differences and
similarities among various peoples, cultures, languages, genders,
ages, and abilities. Indigenous cosmologies often embrace and
incorporate multiple perspectives and experiences, rather than
imposing a single or universal truth or norm.
- The practice of storytelling, ritual, art, music, dance, and other
forms of expression that convey and transmit the cosmological
knowledge and wisdom of each group.
Indigenous
cosmologies

31. Indigenous
cosmologies Indigenous cosmologies often rely on oral traditions and
embodied practices to communicate and preserve their
cosmological views and values. Indigenous cosmologies often use
symbols, metaphors, analogies, and narratives to illustrate and
explain complex or abstract concepts.
Some examples of indigenous cosmologies from different regions
of the world are:
- Australian Aboriginal Astronomy* is the study of how Aboriginal
peoples in Australia use the sky as a source of knowledge, culture,
spirituality, navigation, timekeeping, law, and social organisation.
Aboriginal peoples have developed sophisticated systems of
observing and interpreting the movements and patterns of
celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, stars, planets, comets,
meteors, eclipses, and constellations. Aboriginal peoples have also
associated various celestial phenomena with stories, myths,
legends, ceremonies, rituals, songs, dances, paintings, carvings,
and other forms of expression that reflect their cosmological views³
- African Cosmologies* are the diverse ways that African peoples
understand and relate to the cosmos and their place in it. African
cosmologies are influenced by various factors such as geography,
climate, ecology, history, culture, religion, and philosophy. They
often recognise a supreme being or creator, who is the source and
sustainer of all existence, but who is also transcendent and
mysterious.
African cosmologies often acknowledge the existence and
influence of various divinities, spirits, ancestors, and other
supernatural beings that inhabit or interact with the natural world.
African cosmologies often appreciate the plurality of realities and
worlds, which are interconnected and interdependent. African
cosmologies often celebrate diversity and multiplicity as
expressions of the creativity and generosity of the source of life ².

32. Indigenous
cosmologies -Indigenous Cosmologies of Energy are the ways that indigenous
peoples understand and relate to energy as a vital force that
animates and connects all forms of life. Indigenous cosmologies of
energy challenge the conventional understanding and practice of
energy development that are based on Western and
anthropocentric views.
Indigenous cosmologies of energy propose alternative ways of
articulating and enacting energy that are respectful, curious,
humble, and playful.
Indigenous cosmologies of energy focus on learning from
indigenous oral narratives to unpack indigenous people's lived
experiences, alternative perspectives, and associated practices of
energy ¹.
Source:
(1) Australian Aboriginal Astronomy 214 and Cosmology.
http://www.aboriginalastronomy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Chapter-214-
Australian-Aboriginal-Astronomy-and-Cosmology.pdf.
(2) Cosmology: African Cosmologies | Encyclopedia.com.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-
maps/cosmology-african-cosmologies.
(3) Indigenous cosmologies of energy for a sustainable energy future.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01121-7.
(4) Indigenous Cosmologies — The Botanical Mind.
https://www.botanicalmind.online/chapter-indigenous-cosmologies.

33. According to Akomolafe, his Yoruba indigenous cosmology is "a
way of seeing and being in the world that is informed by the
stories, myths, rituals, and practices of the Yoruba people of West
Africa" ¹.
He explains that his Yoruba cosmology is not a fixed or monolithic
system, but rather a dynamic and diverse one that has been
influenced by various historical and cultural encounters and
exchanges.
He also acknowledges that his Yoruba cosmology is not the only or
the best way of understanding reality, but rather one among many
possible ways.
Some of the key features of Akomolafe's Yoruba cosmology are:
- The belief in a supreme being called ‘Olodumare’, who is the
source and sustainer of all existence, but who is also transcendent
and mysterious. Olodumare does not intervene directly in human
affairs, but delegates authority and responsibility to other beings,
such as the ‘Orisa’ (divinities), the ‘Irunmole’ (primordial spirits),
and the ‘Egungun’ (ancestors) ².
- The recognition of a plurality of realities and worlds, which are
interconnected and interdependent. These include the ‘Orun’ (the
invisible realm), the ‘Aye’ (the visible realm), and the ‘Ife’ (the realm
of possibility). The Orun is the home of Olodumare, the Orisa, the
Irunmole, and the Egungun. The Aye is the home of humans,
animals, plants, and other material beings. The Ife is the home of
potentiality, creativity, and emergence. These realms are not
separate or hierarchical, but rather co-exist and co-create in a
dynamic relationship ³.
Indigenous
cosmologies

34. - The appreciation of diversity and multiplicity as expressions of
Olodumare's creativity and generosity. Akomolafe argues that his
Yoruba cosmology does not privilege or essentialise any single
identity or category, such as race, gender, class, or species. Rather,
it celebrates and respects the differences and similarities among all
beings as manifestations of Olodumare's will and wisdom. He
writes: "In my cosmology, difference is not a problem to be solved;
it is a gift to be cherished" ¹.
- The practice of ‘Ifa’, which is a system of divination, wisdom, and
ethics that guides human actions and relations. Ifa is based on a
corpus of oral texts called ‘Odu’, which contain stories, proverbs,
poems, and symbols that reveal Olodumare's messages and
instructions for humans.
Ifa is also based on a set of rituals and ceremonies that involve
consulting with an ‘Babalawo’ (a priest or diviner), offering
sacrifices to the Orisa or Egungun, and following their advice and
commands. Ifa is not a dogmatic or rigid system, but rather a
flexible and contextual one that adapts to changing situations and
needs ⁴.
These are some of the aspects of Akomolafe's Yoruba indigenous
cosmology that inform his postactivist vision and practice. He
invites us to learn from his cosmology as a way of expanding our
horizons and enriching our perspectives. He says: "My cosmology
is not a claim to truth; it is an invitation to conversation" ¹.
Source:
(1) An Outline of the Cosmology and Cult Organization of the Oyo Yoruba.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/an-outline-of-the-cosmology-
and-cult-organization-of-the-oyo-yoruba1/CAB6B5CD2DE1727BE7D8B459691DFB26.
(2) Habil Eckhard Breitinger, Tutuola and His Vision of Yoruba Cosmology ....
https://philpapers.org/rec/BRETAH-3.
(3) The Cosmological Vision of the Yoruba-Idààcha of Benin ... - Springer.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-6639-9_14.
Indigenous
cosmologies

35. Indigenous
knowledge “We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for
us silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in
the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us.
Observe, listen, and than act, they would tell us. That was the
manner of living.
With you it is just the opposite. You learn by talking. You reward the
children that talk the most at school. In your parties you all try to
talk at the same time. In your work you are always having meetings
in which everybody interrupts everybody and all talk five, ten or a
hundred times. And you call that ‘solving a problem’. When you are
in a room and there is silence, you get nervous. You must fill the
space with sounds. So you talk compulsively, even before you
know what you are going to say.
White people love to discuss. They don’t even allow the other
person to finish a sentence. They always interrupt. For us Indians
this looks like bad manners or even stupidity. If you start talking, I’m
not going to interrupt you. I will listen. Maybe I’ll stop listening if I
don’t like what you are saying, but I won’t interrupt you.
When you finish speaking, I’ll make up my mind about what you
said, but I will not tell you I don’t agree unless it is important.
Otherwise I’ll just keep quiet and I’ll go away. You have told me all I
need to know. There is no more to be said. But this is not enough
for the majority of white people.
People should regard their words as seeds. They should sow them,
and then allow them to grow in silence. Our elders taught us that
the earth is always talking to us, but we should keep silence in
order to hear her.
There are many voices besides ours. Many voices…”

36. Animism Animism: A Worldview for the Anthropocene
One of the key arguments that Jason Hickel makes in his book Less
Is More is that we need to adopt a different worldview to address
the ecological and social crises that we face in the Anthropocene.
He proposes that we look to the indigenous traditions of animism
as a source of inspiration and guidance. Animism is the worldview
that all things have a soul or spirit, and that humans are part of a
larger community of life.
He contrasts animism with the dualism and alienation that
characterises modernity, which separates humans from nature and
reduces the world to a resource for exploitation. He argues that
animism can help us overcome this destructive mindset and foster
a more respectful and harmonious relationship with the world.
He does not romanticise animism or suggest that we should return
to a pre-modern state of existence. Rather, he acknowledges the
diversity and complexity of animist cultures and their historical
transformations. He also recognises the challenges and limitations
of animism, such as the potential for conflict, violence, and
oppression within and between animist societies. He does not
advocate for a wholesale adoption of animism, but rather for a
dialogue and learning process that can enrich our understanding
and practice of ecology and economics. He suggests that we can
learn from animist cultures how to live more sustainably and
equitably, by respecting the limits of the planet, recognising the
interdependence of all living beings, and valuing diversity and
reciprocity.
He cites examples of animist cultures from various regions of the
world, such as the San people of southern Africa, the Kogi people
of Colombia, and the Adivasi people of India. He shows how these
cultures have developed sophisticated ecological knowledge and
practices that enable them to live in balance with their
environments and avoid overconsumption and waste.

37. Animism He also shows how these cultures have resisted and challenged
the colonial and capitalist forces that have threatened their
existence and autonomy. He argues that these cultures have much
to teach us about how to cope with the challenges of the
Anthropocene, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and social
inequality
Jason Hickel also makes a case for the rationality of animism, by
challenging the assumptions and biases of modern science and
philosophy. He critiques the European Enlightenment thinkers,
such as Bacon and Descartes, who established the philosophical
foundations of modernity and its extractive logic. He argues that
these thinkers were influenced by their religious and political
agendas, and that they ignored or dismissed the evidence and
arguments of other cultures and traditions. He claims that animism
is more rational than modernity in the long term, because it takes
into account the complexity and uncertainty of reality, and does not
rely on abstract models or ideologies that ignore or distort the
facts. He also claims that animism is more ethical than modernity,
because it does not justify or rationalise violence or oppression
against other beings or groups.
Hickel's book Less Is More is an important contribution to the
debate on how to address the ecological and social crises that we
face in the Anthropocene. He offers a compelling vision of a post-
capitalist, de-growth society that is based on animist principles and
values. He invites us to rethink our worldview and our relationship
with the world, and to learn from animist cultures how to live more
sustainably and equitably.
Source:
(1) Animism Reborn: A Review of Jason Hickel’s Less is More ... - Anima/Soul.
https://www.animasoul.org/2020/08/27/animism-reborn-a-review-of-jason-hickels-less-is-
more-how-degrowth-will-save-the-world/.
(2) Jason Hickel - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Hickel.
(3) Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel - Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53328332-less-is-more.
Here is a possible section on what Jason Hickel says about animism:

38. Animism Traditional animism is a belief system that is found in many
indigenous cultures around the world.
It is based on the idea that everything in the world has a spirit or
soul, including animals, plants, rocks, and even inanimate objects
like cars or buildings.
In contrast, modern animism is a spiritual movement that seeks to
reconnect people with nature and the natural world in the context
of modern society.
It is often associated with environmentalism and a desire to live in
harmony with the earth.
While both traditional and modern animism share some
similarities, such as a belief in the interconnectedness of all things,
modern animism tends to be more individualistic and less focused
on community than traditional animism. ²¹
Source:
(1) Animism - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism Accessed 17/06/2023.
(2) What Is Animism? - Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-animism-
4588366 Accessed 17/06/2023.
(3) Animism | Definition, Meaning, Symbol, & Examples | Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism Accessed 17/06/2023.
(4) Animism | Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology.
https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/animism Accessed 17/06/2023.

39. Animism Critics of animism have accused it of preserving "colonialist and
dualistic worldviews and rhetoric." ¹
Animistic spirits do not exercise authority in a moral sense but
rather in a particularistic fashion, sanctioning individuals for ritual
neglect or breaking taboos, not for acts of moral neglect or secular
offense. ²
Animistic religions do not readily coalesce with systems of political
authority and probably do not favor their development. ²
The critique of Tylor's work on animism comes in various layers.
The first layer concerns the more general criticism of Tylor's
thought on culture, evolution and survivals. None of these touches
directly on the question of animism. ³
Around the world, a movement is gaining momentum that grants
legal rights to natural phenomena, including rivers, lakes and
mountains. This movement is called the new animism.
Source:
Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism Accessed 17/06/2023.
(2) Animism - The animistic worldview | Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism/The-animistic-worldview Accessed
17/06/2023.
(3) Rethinking Animism: Thoughts from the Infancy of Our Discipline - JSTOR.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2661147 Accessed 17/06/2023.
(4) Should this tree have the same rights as you?.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/02/trees-have-rights-too-robert-
macfarlane-on-the-new-laws-of-nature Accessed 17/06/2023.

40. Worldviews Indigenous thinking and Western thinking are two different ways
of understanding the world.
Indigenous thinking is rooted in a social context that sees the
world in terms of social and spiritual relations among all life forms.
All parts of the natural world are infused with spirit.
Mind, matter, and spirit are perceived as inseparable ¹.
Indigenous philosophy might be viewed as a collective term for
the philosophies of the indigenous peoples of the world – peoples
who have and continue to experience a oneness with places they
inhabit (or that inhabits them) over the long term ².
Western thinking, on the other hand, is based on scientific inquiry
and skepticism. It requires proof as a basis of belief ¹.
Western researchers often treat knowledge as a thing, rather than
as also involving actions, experiences, and relationships.
Western thinking tends to view the land as an object of study
rather than as a relation ².
Source:
(1) Indigenous Worldviews vs Western Worldviews - ictinc.ca.
https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-worldviews-vs-western-worldviews.
(2) What are Indigenous and Western Ways of Knowing?. https://criaw-
icref.ca/images/userfiles/files/Fact%20Sheet%202%20EN%20FINAL_Accessible.pdf.
(3) Indigenous Knowledge And Western Knowledge - 874 Words - bartleby.
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Indigenous-Knowledge-And-Western-Knowledge-
FYKJSGFFBWR.
(4) What are Indigenous and Western Ways of Knowing? - CRIAW-ICREF.
https://www.criaw-
icref.ca/images/userfiles/files/Fact%20Sheet%202%20EN%20FINAL.pdf.
(5) Indigenous Psychologies Contrast With Western Psychology.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/moral-landscapes/201910/indigenous-
psychologies-contrast-western-psychology.

41. Post-activist project
The Emergent Network
Vunja Projecrt

42. The Emergent Network (TEN)
In the midst of a dying planet, what is our location in the trans-
cultural field of activism, responsivity and movement? What is TEN
about? In brief,
1. The vision of TEN is to proliferate/nurture projects of sensitization:
to cultivate and invite openings in dominant habits of responding to
shared troubles. Psychologists often speak about desensitization as
the moments when repeated exposure to a stimulus diminishes our
responsiveness to that stimulus. It’s like being in a room with a foul
smell so long that you can’t smell it anymore. It would take someone
coming into the room to remind us that something awful is afoot.
2. At the rhizomatic heart of TEN’s quests is the idea that the way we
see/respond to/conceptualize/articulate our problems is part of the
problem. Sensitization is like opening the door, a crack in the
atmosphere of things, and saying (much like the fictionalized Harriet
Tubman in my head): “Pssst! Over here!
” Within the cultures of solutions that we are surrounded by,
subcultures of giant conferences and photo-ops and big funding
and glittery logos and performative wokeness, there is a need for
wilder coalitions of acting.
This is what postactivism is about. We may never be able to solve
our most pressing challenges as a species; however, we may not
need to.
3. The vision of TEN is assemblage. Chasing cracks in the edifices of
agency and responsivity might be the playful and spiritual heart of
our shared quests but constellating these cracks so that they speak
to the moments we are in… so that they meet those seeking it
halfway… is a vital objective of TEN.
4. The vision of TEN is inquiry. Trouble needs research.
The
Emergent
Network

43. Kairo
A project of radical hospitality that allows people experimenting
with postactivism and uncovering new places of power to engage
in exchange and learning together in one, physical place in the
spirit of gift, deep listening, co-inquiry and shared destiny
Kairos Exchanges are unlearning journeys that bring communities
of alternative activism and postactivist practices together.
They are about seeing with new eyes, creating emancipatory
knowledges together, and stitching quilts of solidarity especially
with groups in precarious circumstances.
It is about fellowship, sharing and siblinghood. It is about listening-
together-with. It is making-kin-with in a performance of mutual
fragility and radical hospitality. T
hey are an opportunity to braid our lives together and an exchange
of gifts between parties, honouring an old cross-cultural tradition
of receiving the traveller and being generous to one’s host.
They offer fissures in our day-to-day lives for both traveller and host
that call upon a mutual openness to change.
It is cooking together, singing together, picking mushrooms
together, eating together, and crying together. Kairos Exchanges
give potential host an opportunity to see themselves through their
hospitality, to notice their own lives, as if for the first time.
The
Emergent
Network

44. The
Emergent
Network Vulture
An intimate co-inquiry and intentional uncertainty.
Simultaneously skilling up and surrendering in times of
love and trouble
We need new ways of knowing and being with the
world.
Our attempts at leadership, change and activism, while
well intended are often too embedded in the very
systems we wish to liberate ach other from.
We need spaces to listen in for what might be wanting to
emerge if only we had the courage to slow down in
urgent times.
The journey of ‘Vulture’ offers a different shape of hope:
hope not in saviours or solutions but in the smell of soil,
the migration of birds, and the intense beauty of seeing
each other dance at the edge of things.

45. Vunja
Project Vunja Project
Open up other places of power!
Imagine other possibilities of being alive! Imagine ruptures and
openings in spaces of suffering.
Imagine other shapes and genres of being human. Imagine other
futures!
The Vunja project is a research/art/social justice/carnival project
that celebrates black, invisible and marginalized bodies by
attending to startling potentials for wiser worlds in their very
conditions of exception¹.
The word Vunja means rupture or breakage and also colloquially
denotes ‘dance’ in Swahili². It is inspired by the historical resilience,
troubles, journeys and promise of African peoples³.
It is also an aesthetic of decolonization and emancipation – a way
of disturbing the order of things so that still-unknown possibilities
may be noticed². It is a project of The Emergence Network, a trans-
local community that seeks to galvanize a set of decolonial ideas
and concepts³.
Vunja also hosts an annual Festival devoted to the celebration of
the “otherwise” – potentially wiser ways of being alive that thread
through economics, politics, education and our bodies¹.
Vunja is an invitation to imaginaries too radical to be articulated
within the confines of the nation-state¹.
Source:
(1) Vunja - The Emergence Network. https://www.emergencenetwork.org/vunja/
Accessed 19/06/2023.
(2) Grounding VUNJA • Writings – Bayo Akomolafe.
https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/post/grounding-vunja Accessed 19/06/2023.
(3) Vunja News - The Emergence Network. https://www.emergencenetwork.org/vunja-
news/ Accessed 19/06/2023.

46. Vunja
Project Principles of Vunja
HERE ARE THE PRINCIPLES GUIDING THE ‘VUNJA’ PROJECT
AND OUR WORK EXPLORING OTHER PLACES OF POWER WITH
THE WORLD:
‘Vital possibilities’ (or “There are other places of power”):
The dynamics of inclusion versus exclusion lock social justice work
in a tired dialectic that reinforces a paradigm of modern power.
Vunja believes there are other places of power.
Justice can look a lot different from what we are used to.
‘Ubuntu’:
We are entangled in ways that undermine the global order.
First, we think a robust analysis of our present dire circumstances
already implicates race and racialization – and we must appreciate
that race is connected with climate justice, with the Anthropocene,
with biodiversity, with technology, with the city, and with other
material processes around us.
Secondly, the discourse on whiteness often renders white bodies
as culprits, and black bodies as eternal victims. We think of this as
unsatisfactory and problematic.
We work from within a space that sees identity as transversal,
contingent, conflicted, emergent and larger than our human
bodies.
In calling on Black Studies, we situate our analysis on the concept
of whiteness as a logic that hurts both ‘black’ and ‘white’ bodies.
Given that we are part of a relational universe, the invitation here is
to attend to the ways differences are enacted, exploited and
enforced.
‘

47. Vunja
Project ‘New knowledges are possible’:
We pay attention to the dynamics of knowledge production that
have historically conditioned the academic world and privileged
certain ways of seeing, thinking and writing.
We want to create playfully new knowledges that open us up to
new modes of engagement.
We want to excavate wisdoms made invisible by dominant models
of knowing. We want to tell and value other stories.
‘Justice is always to-come’:
There is no arrival point, no set of solutions that addresses all the
questions, and no finish line.
This vocation is about attending to the invisible, and learning to
situate ourselves within humbling epistemologies that allow for
possibly wiser worlds to sprout.
‘Anthropocene is about slowing down’:
The times are urgent, let us slow down.
These times are about noticing our complicity, tracing our
entanglements, making sanctuary so that grieving loss can happen
communally, constructing other iterations of hope, and ‘with-
nessing’ the radical other that is and always was a part of us. We
are called here to be responsive to what is around us, not only to
be [re]active.

48. Maybe other genres of being human are needed.
Maybe the structure of hope, haunted by the prospects of
disembarkation, deified in the theology of final rapture, needs to
be composted and met by the earthbound logic of historically
broken bodies.
With Vunja, we say: the hope of rapture, of flight, of progress, of
transcendence and superiority has gotten us into a huge mess.
Perhaps we must pay attention to ruptures instead. Breakages.
Perhaps we are being invited to consider that escape is defunct,
and that to dwell in the margins, in the states of exception and
‘bare life’ (policed and watched by cops, like the Providencia favela
here in Brazil) is to occupy other places of power.
Vunja is thus a journey to the cracks, a trans-Atlantic revisitation of
the hidden secrets of the slave ship, a refusal to adhere to the
officialdom of hope-making and a refusal to speak
straightforwardly about the future.
There, in the heart of the slave ship making its way across the
Atlantic with the cunning blessings of Esu the Yoruba trickster god,
something other than hope was born.
Something we don’t know how to notice.
Something beyond our rational calculations and solutioneering
heroisms.
Something I think is the meaning of Blackness today – not simply a
box to be ticked, or an identity category, but a radically hospitable
invitation to the cracks, beneath the deck, where the unspeakably
messianic turns restless.
https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/post/grounding-vunja
Vunja
Project

49. Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

50. Decolonisation
Degrowth

51. Decolonisation of nature is a process of challenging and
transforming the colonial and neocolonial influences on the
relationship between humans and nature, especially in the context
of urban environments.
It involves recognising and respecting the diverse ways of knowing
and relating to nature that exist among different cultures,
communities, and histories, and creating more inclusive and
equitable spaces for co-existence and co-creation of knowledge³.
Decolonisation of nature also implies addressing the power
imbalances and injustices that result from the exploitation,
appropriation, and domination of nature by colonial and capitalist
forces¹.
Decolonisation of nature is relevant for many cities in the Global
South, where colonialism has left a significant legacy on the urban
form, the distribution and composition of green spaces, and the
species diversity and ecology³.
For example, in South Africa, many urban parks, gardens, and
street trees were established by European settlers who imposed
their aesthetic preferences and cultural values on the landscape,
often displacing or marginalising Indigenous plants and people³.
Decolonisation of nature in this context would entail
acknowledging and restoring the Indigenous knowledge systems
and practices that have shaped and sustained the local biodiversity
and ecosystems for centuries³.
It requires engaging with multiple perspectives and voices,
especially those that have been silenced or excluded by
colonialism, such as Indigenous peoples, women, youth, and
marginalised groups¹
Decolonisation

52. Decolonisation .
It also requires challenging the dominant Western scientific
paradigms that tend to objectify and commodify nature, and
instead embracing more holistic, relational, and contextual ways of
understanding and interacting with nature².
Decolonisation of nature is thus a complex and ongoing process
that involves both material and symbolic transformations¹.
Source:
(1) Decolonisation of nature in towns and cities of South Africa.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346220256_Decolonisation_of_nature_in_tow
ns_and_cities_of_South_Africa.
(2) How decolonization could reshape South African science - Nature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01696-w.
(3) Decolonization should extend to collaborations, authorship and ... - Nature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03822-1.

53. Decolonisation Needs to be owned

54. Decolonisation
&
tech. The Infrastructure Talks Back
The issue is that, this time around, the information
technology talks back like never before.
We must enter into a dialogue with it. And we must
sometimes speak to each other about technology,
safely out of its reach.
It has often been claimed that “technology is neutral”;
that it has no agenda of its own, that it is ultimately a
tool in the hands of people, subject only to the good
and evil that men (humans) do.
This view has been turned on its head by a wide range
of analysts, the ones who understand technology the
best.
Futurist and tech guru Kevin Kelly uses the term “the
technium” to describe technology as a force of nature
onto itself; it always guides and shapes the humans
that interact with it.
Bruno Latour, the great anthropologist of science,
holds that human-made artefacts are “material agents”,
which make people act: from the microscope guiding
biology research, to the road-sign guiding drivers, to
the glasses of wine driving and shaping a romantic
interaction, which takes new turns depending on which
behavioral cues we get from our furniture.

55. Decolonisation
&
tech. The Infrastructure Talks Back
Now, it can be argued that the agency of technology has
been growing exponentially. If chairs make us sit and
beds have us lie down, at least these aren’t themselves
moving and self-adapting to us.
That is what algorithms and AI are doing—and their
capacity to do so is growing at an exceeding rate, as
they are honed by developers, adopt machine-learning,
and gather enormous amounts of user data.
Algorithms and AI drive a large part of our days, and
they predict our actions with increasing precision, to
affect us.
They are today the driving force of our current
informational revolution, one that is taking place
globally. To this point, this trend has not been reversed,
only strengthened.
Our new layer of information technology has gained so
great and so efficient agency that we are undermined as
citizens, as the real owners of our society and the
technological infrastructure we use—indeed, as the real
owners of our own lives.
We, as citizens of the digital world, need to redefine our
citizenship and defend our freedoms.
Again: that is a conversation we must start having now,
and we must act to take the power back from
technology, and give it back to human beings—to the
people, in a wide sense of the term. Carbon and silicon
in harmony.

56. Limits
to
growth

57. Degrowth Degrowth is a radical economic theory and movement that
challenges the dominant paradigm of economic growth and
development.
It proposes to deliberately shrink the size and impact of the
economy in order to achieve social and ecological goals, such as
reducing inequality, enhancing well-being, and preserving the
environment¹.
Degrowth advocates argue that infinite economic growth is
impossible and undesirable on a finite planet, and that it leads to
various forms of exploitation, oppression, and destruction².
Degrowth envisions a transition to a more sustainable, equitable,
and democratic society that values quality of life over quantity of
production and consumption².
Degrowth is not the same as recession, which is an involuntary and
harmful contraction of the economy that causes unemployment,
poverty, and instability³.
Degrowth is a voluntary and planned strategy that aims to
redistribute wealth and power, redefine work and leisure, and
reorient values and institutions³.
Degrowth does not necessarily imply a reduction of GDP, but
rather a shift away from GDP as the main indicator of progress.
Degrowth also does not imply a return to pre-industrial conditions
or a rejection of all forms of technology, but rather a selective and
democratic use of appropriate technologies that serve human and
ecological needs².

58. Degrowth Degrowth is based on various interdisciplinary perspectives, such
as ecological economics, political ecology, feminist political
ecology, and environmental justice.
It draws inspiration from diverse sources of knowledge and
practice, such as indigenous cultures, social movements,
alternative lifestyles, and grassroots initiatives.
Degrowth is not a fixed or unified doctrine, but rather an open-
ended and pluralistic process of collective learning and
experimentation².
Degrowth is also not a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather a
context-specific and culturally-sensitive approach that respects the
diversity and autonomy of different communities and regions²
Source:
(1) Degrowth: what's behind this economic theory and why it matters today.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/what-is-degrowth-economics-climate-
change/.
(2) Degrowth - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrowth.
(3) Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help - Nature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04412-x.

59. Degrowth The Architecture of Degrowth
As Richard Buckminster Fuller pointed out in this allegory from his
1968 Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, a makeshift solution
which just about works for the time being should not be conflated
with the best tool for the job.
The singular pursuit of an infinitely growing economy masks the
reality that GDP is a misleading indicator of social health and the
harm that excessive economic growth causes. It is now clear that an
economy based on increasing GDP comes with increasing energy
consumption, extraction of natural resources, and greenhouse gas
emissions; all accelerating environmental collapse.
The logic of economic growth commodifies everything in its path.
Museums are reduced to beacons for attracting investment.
Universities sell education for profit
The scientist Vaclav Smil has shown, "once you reach a certain
point, the benefits of GDP growth level off". Excessive GDP does
not improve life expectancy, social progress, happiness or equality
but is driving us off an ecological cliff. The story we have based our
economic system on is a toxic myth.
The most existential, exciting and revolutionary challenge facing
society, is to redesign our economy to protect the only biosphere
we have.
The architecture of degrowth proposes cities of shared plenty — of
nourishing culture and prioritising the production of art. It is a
system which values the writing of love letters, amateur gardening
and taking the scenic route rather than treating these economically
nonproductive activities as frivolities. Degrowth is the political
cause of richly expressive cities made in symbiosis with nature.
Phineas Harper Dezeen magazine

61. And then?

62. Annex

63. The Timber Revolution
Magic
Mythic
Rock art from
Southern Africa (San)
South Asia
Australia
European
South America
North America
Worlds

64. Southern
African
(San)

65. South
Asian

66. Australian

67. European

68. South
American

69. North
American

70. Urban
Hub
series

71. “Tell me a fact and
I’ll listen. Tell me a
truth and I’ll learn.
But tell me a story,
and it will live in my
heart forever.”
There is a Native American saying:
Life shows its
harmony, when you
discover your
connection to what
unfolds.

72. Key to an Integral approach to urban design is the
notion that although other aspects of urban life are
important, people (sentient beings), as individuals and
communities, are the primary ‘purpose’ for making
cities thriveable. All other aspects (technology,
transport & infra-structure, health, education, sustain-
ability, economic development, etc.) although playing
a major part, are secondary.
Urban Hub Series
These books are a series of presentations for the use
of Integral theory or an Integral Meta-framework in
understanding cities and urban Thriveability.
Although each can stand alone, taken together they
give a more rounded appreciation of how this
broader framework can help in the analysis and
design of thriveable urban environments.
Guides for Integrally Informed Practitioners
The Guides for Integrally Informed Practitioners
(adjacent) cover much of the theory behind the
Integral Meta-framework used in these volumes. For
topics covered in other volumes in this series see the
following page.
Pdf versions are gratis to view
& download @:
https://www.slideshare.net/PauljvsSS
Hardcopies can be purchased
from Amazon
Urban
Hub
series

74. SPANISH

75. Urban Hub manuals
prepared for C40
Cities Thriving Cities
Initiative and others
published by
IntegralUrbanHub
3
5
URBAN
HUB
August 2023 September 2023
July 2023 October 2023

76. Pub. April 2022
Other books
published by
iUH Publishing

77. Notes

80. Urban
Hub
Integral
UrbanHub
Thriveable
Worlds
A series of books from integralMENTORS Integral
UrbanHub work on Thriving people & Thriveable Cities
Without taking into account the many worldviews that
currently co-exist and crafting ways of including them in
a positive and healthy form we will continue to alienate
vast sections of all communities of humankind.
No one vision is sufficient in and of itself – visions can
guide but only by collaborative action in a creative
generative process can visions grow and become part
of an ongoing positive sociocultural reality.
Post-activism
32
The cracks