Climate Change Activism

Whether you are driven by the collapse-narrative, a frustrated environmental activist, or someone who wants to do something about racism…

Is your goal a world where we learn to take care of one another and keep each other as safe as possible?

Follow this framework to see if it sparks some fresh, creative, flexible thinking…

We begin with looking at what the dominant culture is and how it feeds into our sense of powerless.

Colourful stripes with the words White Supremacy Culture Patterns and the keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
A human is standing in a tree, hunched over a bit. Over the image are the words, “Internalised Oppression” and the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.

Discover how these patterns make us vulnerable to groupthink, to not being able to use our best thinking, and to (eco)fascist narratives.

A human made out of pieces of paper with the words Cult Dynamics and the keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
A statue by Gustav Vigeland in Oslo of a female-presenting adult looking fearfully behind her as she carries a younger human in her arms. Over the image is the word Ecofascim and to the left is the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.

In order to figure out the appropriate response to climate change, colonisation, racism, etc, we need to listen to the people who have benefited the least from the dominant system. They understand the way the system works in a way we (white, Western, middle-class people) cannot. The better we understand the system, the better we can resist it / undermine it.

But one of our cultural patterns is to not be able to hear from the people most marginalised by society. So, to start, how do we become allies?

Someone's legs and booted feet standing in water-logged grass. The words "Being an Ally" are over the image, along with the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.

Specifically, why do we find it so hard to hear angry voices? Why might people from other cultures find us difficult to be around? And what do we lose by centring English?

A group of cows, with one brown cow staring straight into the camera with the words Tone Policing and the keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
Statues by Gustav Vigeland in Oslo, Norway, of two young humans running scared. Over the image are the words, “Cultural Appropriation” and the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
a painting of a human with lots of long strokes of different colours on brown paper. Over the image are the words "Language Liberation" and the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.

For those of us thinking about the future a lot, how do our conceptions show up cultural patterns that may distract us from a truly appropriate response to what is happening in the world? We look at “hope” and “certainty”.

A sunrise or sunset with clouds and trees.]
An English road with trees and a blue sky with the word Certainty and the keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.

Now we begin looking at what taking care of one another and keeping each other as safe as possible could look like, might need to encompass…

We look at systemic violence and what true accountability and justice might be…

A young female-presenting child is lying on grass with her eyes closed. Next to her is a heart made out of lots of gray-ish stones. Over the image are the words “Nonviolence in a Nonviolent World” and the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
Two four-year old female-presenting humans walking down a street, arm in arm, with their backs to the camera. Over the image are the words “Community Accountability” and the Keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
An older male-presenting person in a Colombian ruana is standing with a small female-presenting child as they look up a mountain at a rainbow in front of clouds. The words on the image say "Restorative Justice" and the Keduzi logo is there, which is a colourful flower.

And, finally, real world examples of how people survive without or despite the system…

And we learn about a tool called Convergent Facilitation so we can take leadership in any situation: thinking well about the group as a whole, and eliciting their best thinking.

A four-year old being held up by the arms of a man on a back with his legs up in the air, performing acroyoga. The child appears to be flying, with the words Support Pods & Mutual Aid and the keduzi logo, which is a colourful flower.
Several people of different ages, but mainly young people in their 20s, are looking out to the sea on a beach with their arms up in the air. The words over the image say, A Solution that Works for Everyone?. The Keduzi logo is also over the image. The logo is a colourful flower.
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2024 keduzi

White Supremacy Cultural Patterns

Theme 1: Tema Okun suggests 18 patterns of white supremacy culture. We go through each one, reflecting on how we see these patterns playing out in our own lives… our relationships, communities, and workplaces. Watch the videos.

Internalised Oppression

Theme 2: What if we believe the stereotypes about our different identities? About what “women are like” or “men are like” or “children are like” or “blind people are like”? How does this show up? And is it confusing for people who do not have that identity to see this happening? Watch the video. 

Cult Dynamics

Theme 3: How do cult dynamics show up in society, organisations, movements, and movements? Be sure to reviewing Tema Okun‘s white supremacy culture patterns (see videos here). We go over Cult Research‘s characteristics of cults. Pause for processing and reflection. Watch the videos.

Ecofascism

Theme 4: What do we mean by ecofascism? Is the term being used too much or too little? We go over examples of language being used in common places, like Facebook groups, which threaten to normalise ecofascism. This is about strengthening our capacity to notice narratives that are willing to sacrifice some humans/living species/ecosystems for the benefit of a small number of privileged people. Watch the video.

Being an Ally

Theme 5: As a mixed-heritage Latina, Heather shares what she considers to be good allyship. If she saw you interrupting racism or sexism or ablism or any kind of oppression at all, what qualities would she expect to see?  Watch the video.

Tone Policing

Theme 6: What is tone policing? In other words, what is it about our dominant culture that expects people to “be nice” before they can say something uncomfortable for others to hear? How does this perpetuate separation when we so badly need a world where we take care of one another and keep each other as safe as possible? Watch the video.

Cultural Appropriation

Theme 7: What does cultural appropriation mean? What is the difference between appreciation, sharing, and appropriation? What is it about the dominant white culture that leads to appropriation? Watch the video. 

Language Liberation

Theme 8: With all the diversity in the world, why is just one language seen as the common language? English dominates globally. Even in conferences where no one has English as their first language, English is used to communicate amongst people who speak many different languages. What do we lose when we allow this domination? What languages have we lost in our family tree? Watch the video. 

Hope & Privilege

Theme 9: How do we talk about hope? What do we mean and does it depend on the context? And what does our philosophy about hope and use of the word say about our own privilege? How do the two interact? Does it reflect on our culture, our language? Watch the videos.

Certainty

Theme 10: Our dominant culture is uneasy about uncertainty about the future. We want answers now. We want solutions. We want guarantees. What is this mindset about? What do we need to explore in order to be more open to other ways of viewing the future? How does this play out in the context of climate change, ecological destruction, and collapse-driven narratives? Watch the video.

Nonviolence in a Violent World

Theme 11: What does it mean to be nonviolent in a violent world? What is violence and what is nonviolence? Who is perpetrating the violence? What does a commitment to nonviolence look like when we live in this world? Based on the work of Peter Gelderloos and Miki Kashtan. Watch the video. 

Community Accountability

Theme 12: When harm occurs within a community, what is the healthy response? Based on Mariame Kaba’s book, We Do This ‘Til They Free Us. Watch the videos. 

Restorative Justice

Theme 13: With so much scrutiny of the police, what is justice? What is wrong with the current system and what is meant by restorative and transformational justice? This workshop just seeks to take the very first steps toward exploring these huge issues… We all get to start at square one, with loads of time for processing and reflection and a comfort break at the midway point of the two hours. We’ll keep checking in with our bodies to stay connected and grounded in where we’re at with these huge issues. Videos coming in November 2021.

Support Pods & Mutual Aid

Theme 14: What can we learn from mutual aid and disability justice siblings about support pods and how best to take care of one another and keep each other as safe as possible? What is it about our dominant culture that makes it hard for so many of us to even just knock on our neighbour’s door? We spend two hours exploring examples and our responses to them. Plenty of time for processing and reflection and a midway comfort break. Videos coming in November 2021.

A Solution that Works for Everyone

Theme 15: An introduction to Convergent Facilitation, based on Miki Kashtan’s work. What do we need to keep in mind as we look for solutions that work for everyone? We look at each stage of facilitation. Watch the videos.