Newsletter Nr. 33 (September 2019, subsequent to our 33rd Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, in the Brazilian Amazon, 28th August – 7th September 2019)
Compiled by Evelin G. Lindner, in 2019
(Note: This newsletter is written in British English, since this conference took place outside of the U.S. In our NY workshops, we usually use American English.)
Contents
• Pictures
• Thanks!
• Evelin Lindner's reflections
• Your reflections after our conference
• Announcements and Good News
• What Is the Aim of Our Work?
• Welcome Again!
Pictures
(Important note to our conference particants: During our conferences, we always make an effort to ask for your permission to have your pictures posted on this website. However, you may have overheard or misunderstood our question, or you may have changed your mind since, either in total or for specific pictures/videos, please let us know! Thank you! Since we wish to walk the talk of dignity, it is very important for us to do our utmost in respecting everybody's privacy. We refrain from gathering written permissions from you during our conferences, since we value the building of mutual trust in relationships, and we also would like to refrain from contributing to an ever more bureaucratic and legalistic society.)
Still photos: |
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 Photo gallery
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27th August 2019 |
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Day One, 28th August 2019 On the morning of Wednesday, 28th August 2019, at the opening of the ordinary session of the Câmara Municipal de Marabá, the City Hall of Marabá, the Marabá City Council welcomed the members of Mano’s and Dan’s Rivers of Encounter Project, as they were scheduled to leave for a tour of four European countries: Austria, Poland, Germany, and Belgium, on 2nd September. Six young people from the Cabelo Seco Community were on their way to defend the Amazon in Europe, showing the strength of culture and what they are doing to help preserve it. The Câmara Municipal de Marabá, Prefeitura de Marabá, the City Hall of Marabá or the Marabá City Council, is made up of twenty-one seats since 2013 (until 2012 there were thirteen), when, by determination of the Superior Electoral Court, the municipalities got a number of councilors equivalent to their population. The old City Hall building was called Palacete Augusto Dias. The current City Hall building was opened on 23rd December 2010.
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Day Two, 29th August 2019 House of Rivers, Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará
• Session at the Escola Irmã Theodora, a public school in Marabá
Please see this letter from a group of young pupils from that school who had organised themselves to look into the destruction of the Amazon:
• 3pm – 4pm Introduction by Gabriela Saab and dialogue session with students and teachers of the Law of the Land at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA) in Marabá about restorative justice, and ecocide law
• 4pm – 5pm Introduction by Evelin Lindner and dialogue session with students and teachers of the Law of the Land at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA) about healing pedagogies and practices, resilience studies, social media for dignity Evelin had been asked to touch upon healing pedagogies and practices, resilience studies, social media for dignity. After Gaby's talk she therefore briefly shared with the audience that dignity basically cannot be defined theoretically, that it is embodied. One way to make it visible is by two people holding hands in the way the infinity symbol is formed. |
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Day Three, 30th August 2019
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Day Four, 31st August 2019 This was an all-day excursion to two fishing communities – the Vila Praia Alta community on the island Ilha Praia Alta in the river Tocantins, and to the Tauiry community on the shores of the river Tocantins – hosted and mentored by biologist and fishing monitor Cristiane (Cris) Vieira da Cunha
The Amazon is threatened not just by logging, not just by arson to clear land for cattle and soya production, it is also threatened by mining, the building of dams, and the blasting of rocks – in this case, the rocks of the Pedral de Lourenção on the way to Ilha Praia Alta – and to turn natural rivers into industrial highways or 'hydrovias'.
Dan Baron kindly sent us this picture on 7th September 2017, and he wrote: 'I attach three photos of our intervention on the 43k of rocks threatened to be destroyed to make way for huge cargo ships, from the final day of the forum, and three clips (from many) in solidarity with the Amazon. Feel free to use them as you wish'.
Pará is double the size of Western Europe and it is normal for a land owner to own half a million cattle. Pará has a sad reputation for its hired gunmen.
Vila Praia Alta on the Ilha de Praia Alta, an island in the river Tocantins two hours by car and boat Marabá in the Amazonian State of Pará, the first community we had the privilege of meeting this day
These were the vides we made in Vila Praia Alta: Gaby and Evelin were deeply impressed by the sustainability of the ways of living we encountered here. We saw almost no plastic, almost no waste, everything was used. Here, animals have a life, rather than being 'produced'. A rooster crows in the morning, indicating that animals are allowed to have a family, to have a social life in their own right, rather than being reduced to servants of human needs – being used as pets at best (to help placate the loneliness and disconnection in societies of excessive individualism), or consumed as food. The kitchen is outside of the house under an umbrella! And the shell of the babaçu nuts serve as charcoal!
Tauiry, a fishing community on the shores of the river Tocantins, the second community we had the privilege of meeting this day
These were the reflections Evelin tried to share with the fishermen that Gaby and I met near Marabá. They clearly had been told – and they felt guilty accordingly – for ‘standing in the way of progress’ because they wish to hold on to their familiar lifestyle, remain on their land and not be evicted by industrialisation. I tried to explain to them that THEY represent progress in its true form, and that it is rather the rest of the world that stands in the way of progress. The rest of the world ought to come to THEM and learn from THEM how to live as part of nature, instead of continuing with the illusion that humanity can be nature’s master. I tried to explain that they are the stark opposite of, for instance, coal miners, who actually do stand in the way of progress if they force coal mines to stay open with the argument that they wish to hold on to their familiar lifestyle... | |||||||||||||
Day Five, 1st September 2019 This was an all-day excursion under the mentorship of Claudelice dos Santos to the Assentamento (settlement) de Nova Ipixuna, site of murder of Zé Cláudio and Maria Silva, two forest activists and their living project
These were the videos we made on this day:
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Day Six, 2nd September 2019 This happened in Belém while Gabriela and Evelin still were in Marabá preparing to travel from Marabá to Belém next day: A wonderful meeting with Cristiane Vieira da Cunha in Marabá
• Please click here to see all 14 photos of this day in Marabá. Here Evelin is sending thanks to Catherine Odora Hoppers, who gave her this special T-shirt in Pretoria in 2013! Thank you, dear Catherine! |
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Day Seven, 3rd September 2019 A wonderful meeting with Claudelice dos Santos Leaving for Belém Our dear Gaby had to leave us here, she had to proceed to São Paulo. Thank you, dear Gaby! What would we have done without YOU!!! We are in deep gratitude!
Belém: Gateway to the riches of the Amazon
Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet
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Day Eight, 4th September 2019 We started the day at the Universidade Federal do Pará, UFPA, the Federal University of Pará (Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Pará, UFPA)
Visit to an organic farm, with Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet
Thank you, dear Sandro and Marlucia, for welcoming us in your paradise in the Amazon Rainforest, surrounded by wonderful vegetation, by monkeys, iguanas, birds, tucanos, parrots, and many other animals. As Marlucia, Sandro's wife, said (paraphrased): 'What makes this place a paradise is exactly what those people don't want to have who destroy it and burn it...'
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Day Nine, 5th September 2019, Amazon Day The Instituto Humana of Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet in the Recanto da Preguiça / Lazy Sloth Corner
  • Please click on the photos above to see them larger. You see the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, a Brazilian research institution and museum located in the city of Belém. The institution has the mission of researching, cataloging and analysing the biological and sociocultural diversity of the Amazon Basin, contributing to its cultural memory and its regional development. It has also the aim of increasing public awareness of science in the Amazon by means of its museums, its botanical garden, its zoological park, etc. The Museum maintains a scientific research station in the high Amazon forest (Estação Científica Ferreira Penna), which was inaugurated in 1993, with 330 square kilometres (130 sq mi) in the Caxiuanã National Forest, municipality of Melgaço, Pará. On the picture on the right above, you see Alexandre B. Bonaldo, head of the Department of Coordenação de Zoologia of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, the 'boss' of ecologist Marlucia Bonifácio Martins.
See this little video, where the wonderful guide in the Museu Goeldi explained that wasps and bees were very important for the Kayapo. Long time ago, there was a war between the humans and the insects. But the humans could not overcome the insects because the king beetle was too smart. (The king beetle is the Actaeon beetle, see it on the picture on the right above, one of the largest of all beetles, whose males can grow to be 131/2 centimeters long by 4 centimeters thick). Humans were finally victorious when they learned from the bees to organise a society, and from the wasps and their sting how to get weaponised: in this way, they could overcome the king beetle! Dia da Amazônia, mesa redonda 'Amazônia em chamas. Quais as consequências?'
This was a spontaneously called conference, due to the emergency in the Amazon, with the following three speakers:
After the conference, Marlucia Martins was interviewed in the park of the museum, see the video:     • Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of the interview with Marlucia Martins, and click here to see the video. On the photos on the right side, you see her produly sitting in front of the funders of the Museu Goeldi: Ernst Lohse, Andreas Goeldi, Rodolpho Rodrigues, Jacques Huber, Oscar Martins, Emília Snethlage, Abigayl Mattos, Emil Göldi, Anna Carreira. Lunch in the Resto do Parque
On our way to the Palaco Cabanagem
The Amazon Day with Deputado Dirceu Ten Caten
In the evening, through the centre of Belém    • Please click on the photos above or here to see all 5 photos of the centre of Belém |
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Day Ten, 6th September 2019 This was an all-day excursion to the island of Combú across the river Guarná from BelémThese were the videos we made on this day: 35 On the way to Combú island 36 Flavia of the Saldosa Maloca restaurant on Combú island 37 Aline Voos on Combú island explaining Andiroba 38 Evelin Lindner on Combú island 39 Vitor Nascimento explains the 'Street River' graffiti project Ilha do Combú, the island of Combú, leaving Belém behind!
Vitor Nascimento was our wonderful host and mentor
The Saldosa Maloca restaurant
The 'Street River' graffiti project
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Day Eleven, 7th September 2019 Kamolrat Intaratat explained her work • Please click on the photo or here to see the video where Kamolrat Intaratat explains her work with the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management. Our dear Kjell Skyllstad brought Kamolrat Intaratat to us. She travelled for 42 hours, together with her colleagues Piyachat, all the way from Bangkok to the Amazon. Kamolrat is the director and founder of the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management (CCDKM) at the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) in Nonthaburi, in the northern outskirts of Bangkok in Thailand. She is also the Chair of the Communication Arts for ASEAN International Program (Master Degree Program). |
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Post-conference experiences and reflections by Evelin Lindner These were the two videos that Evelin Lindner made after the conference: Evelin Lindner explains: 'In our global dignity network, we create "circles of love gifts", meaning that people on one continent give small gifts for other members of our global fellowship on another continent. The giver and receiver are connected by email, so that these gifts become bridge-builders. When time is too short, Evelin sometimes also buys gifts (small unexpensive light-weight gifts). She avoids high-flying souvernir shops (in touristic places, many of the items are now mass-produced in China anyway) and looks for people who make things themselves. She also looks for household items that might be considered "normal" on one continent and are educational for people on another continent. She never just buys 'things', but attempts to forge relationships and to understand the source and use of the items in the lives of the local people. She asks for permission to take a picture or make a little video'. Praça da República
in Belém, 8th September 2019 About the Praça da República, translated from the Portuguese Wikipedia site: 'At first it was Largo da Campina, a huge open land that was between the Campina neighborhood and the road that led to the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré. Then, in the eighteenth century, there was built a huge warehouse to store gunpowder, tracing its name to Largo da Póvora. A gallows has been erected, but there is no record of any hanging. What is known is that the space was used to bury, in a shallow grave, slaves and the poor... Today Praça da República becomes the ideal stage for major celebrations such as the Círio de Nazaré, Race Day and the September 7 parade. The other 362 days of the year make it the ideal place for family outings, evangelism, meeting friends or dating'. The Ver-o-peso market in Belém, 9th September 2019
Wikipedia: Ver-o-peso market is a market hall in Belém, Brasil located at Guajará Bay riverside. It is called "Ver-o-Peso" following a colonial era tradition, since the tax collector's main post was located there, which was called "Casa do Haver-o-peso" ("Have-the-Weight House"). It was in the "Haver-o-peso house" that the taxes over goods brought from the Amazon forests, rivers and countryside should be paid to the Portuguese crown, but only after their weight was measured, hence the name, which later suffered a contraction. Nowadays, the Ver-o-peso complex contains the Açaí Fair, a free open market where açaí berry merchants sell the fruit in natura for açaí juice shops, the Clock Square, with an iron-cast clock tower brought from England, the Ver-o-peso docks, where native fishes from Amazon are unloaded from boats and sold fresh, the Iron Market, a gothic prefab structure where fish is sold, the Solar da Beira space, a colonial building where art expositions often take place, and the neoclassical Meat Market, across the street, with iron-cast stairs and cubicles. There's also the free market, where craftsmanship, natural essence parfums, typical food and native fruits are sold.
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Dear Friend! Thanks!
We had a remarkable dignity conference in the Brazilian Amazon, both deeply touching and deeply troubling, due to the emergency situation in the Amazon. The conference was a 'Caravan' and was titled 'Cultivating Good Living Amazon: Nurturing Solidarity with Mother Earth'. I lack adequate words to express my appreciation, admiration, and deep gratitude to all those who made this conference possible!
Please see our general invitation for this conference sent out on 24th June 2019, and a personal invitation letter in English and in Brazilian Portuguese.
Please allow me to begin this newsletter by expressing my profound gratitude to the esteemed inspirers, hosts, conveners, and organisers of this conference, Dan Baron and Manoela Souza. They are the directors of the Transformance Institute: Culture & Education and its AfroRaiz Youth Collective of the 'Rios de Encontro' (Rivers of Meeting) project in the Community University of the Rivers in Marabá, Pará, Brasil. You get an impression of their work by watching this video: Rios de Encontro: Towards a Good Living Amazon (Flying River Tour).
Our gratitude goes also to Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet, who took over as convener of the second part of our conference in Belém. We so much thank Sandro and his wife Marlucia for their most generous hospitality! Furthermore, we highly appreciated the invitation of Congressman Dirceu Ten Caten to the Amazon Day.
Gaby Saab deserves loving acknowledgement for her extraordinary nurturing work, both in Marabá, and as host of the WhatsApp group that she inaugurated for this conference. Our first WhatsApp conference group! Thank-you so much, dear Gaby!
Our 33rd Annual HumanDHS Dignity Conference in Brasil was unlike any other we had before! The conference took place at the time when the Amazon had just been set on fire (starting for full on 10th August 2019) and everyone was in a state of anxiety, alarm, and emergency. Because of the environmental emergency, the conference didn't take place in a fixed location. Instead it unfolded as a 'caravan conference', where the conveners went to the participants to engage in dignity dialogues. This mobile methodology allowed our efforts to be responsive to the conditions on the ground, sometimes changing course from minute to minute. Thus it became a fluid conference, like a river that always finds it way. The participants began meeting on 28th August 2019 in Marabá, the 'gate to the industrialisation of the Amazon', and we concluded the conference in Belém, a place of immense cultural diversity, visionary history, and indigenous roots, on 7th September.
Not only the forest had been set on fire, also important institutions were being set 'on fire' while we had our conference, albeit in a different way, such as the federal university of the city of Marabá that was scheduled to close down due to funding being cut. In this dire situation, we attempted to be as supportive as possible and carry out a caravan of dialogues in as dignified and dignifying ways as possible.
We had the great privilege of learning from the true experts of sustainable dignifying life, namely, those who know how to live with the rainforest, rather than against it — we admired the knowledge of a fishing community and a gardening community. We also had the privilege of speaking at the City Council of Marabá, we went to schools and the university (as it was still open for the last days). In Belém, we were honoured by being invited into the Legislative Assembly of the State of Pará on World Amazon Day on 5th September.
The main local conveners in Marabá were Dan Baron and Manoela Souza, who reside in Marabá, and Gabriela Saab from São Paulo, who was also the host of the WhatsApp group for the conference. In Belém, our local convener was Sandro Ruggeri. Evelin Lindner came from outside of Brasil.
This region of the Brazilian Amazon has the greatest biodiversity and concentration of iron ore and drinking water in the world. But it also has the world’s highest statistic for murdered activists and contains the most violent cities (genocide of black youth and extreme abuse of women), with the worst high school education in Brasil (Dan Baron, 10th January 2018).
We thank all participants for joining hands in making this caravan conference one of our most special and most memorable ones. Everyone participated by not only offering their particular personal perspectives, everyone also engaged in an enormously enriching process of co-creating new horizons of meaning for ourselves and for our societies, including world society.
Linda and I, we would like to invite everyone to contribute to this newsletter with your reflections (whatever you wish to share here, just send it to me so that I paste it in further down)! We invite comments, thoughts, and reflections both from the participants, and from those who were with us in spirit!
Please allow me to remind you that all our conferences are part of our ongoing relationship-building work (rather than 'stand-alone' events). We wish to nurture a global community of people who strive to bring more dignity into the world. Our 33rd Annual Dignity Conference was yet another opportunity, unique in its intensity, one that deeply inspired also me personally. The diversity of backgrounds of our participants was remarkable: Brasil, Wales, Silesia-Germany-Norway-global (in the Amazon), and via WhatsApp Japan, Indonesia, India, Swaziland, South Africa, Ethopia, Morroco, Norway, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and U.S.A.. Many members in our global network share a biography of journeying, both geographically and with respect to their life paths and experiences. Many have experienced profound turning points in their lives, which often foster deep change.
As you have noticed, we strive to conduct our conferences in ways that are different to mainstream conferences. Our conferences are designed to transcend the 'guru' model of having one or two noted celebrities orchestrating the experience for the non-celebrities. We wish to avoid a top-down approach to organising. Rather, we strive to practice a ripple-out approach, cultivating mutually beneficial action that emphasises loving service (rather than servitude!). We strive to refrain from relegating 'administrative' work to secretaries or marginalised members of society. We invite universal responsibility, universal co-leadership, leadership that encourages everyone to step in and contribute according to their interests, abilities, and passions.
In traditional conferences, participants arrive with the tacit expectation to spend the day more or less isolated, either as presenters or listeners, and when the official day ends, they expect to dissipate to do 'their own thing'. The only time when everybody is drawn together officially, at least to a certain degree, is during what is called Q&A (questions and answers, rather than dialogue). Group-building is relegated to the coffee-pauses or friendships being nurtured privately on the sidelines. As a result, very often, there is a widespread sigh after conferences: 'I had to give a paper to get funding for the conference, but slept through the presentations of the others, only the coffee-breaks where really good, because I enjoyed meeting old friends'.
The most important aim of our conferences is to transcend this situtation and to make clear that the 'work' of building a dignity family is the most important feature of our conferences. Our participants are invited to take responsibility for this process also outside of the 'official' schedule. Linda and I personally see our main task in nurturing this social-psychological connectivity rather than in the administration or scheduling of our conferences, as important as also this is for a dignified conference. We wish to nurture a climate of togetherness in equal dignity, of holding hands as human beings among human beings (Ubuntu), who act together in a spirit of mutual responsibility for each other, and who engage in mutual learning and teaching. We aim for a style that manifests the fact that we are one single human family on one single tiny planet, and that we have to learn to act like a good family if we wish to survive as a species. In our work, we wish to stay clear of abusing this connectivity for ulterior purposes, be they ideological, religious, monetary, or else. This approach includes the entire conference, with its pauses and evenings.
Rather than organising time around 'presentations', we always strive to take a collaborative approach to planning our time together. We use the format of Dignilogues (Dignity + Dialogue), or conversations on topics proposed by participants, a format that we have adapted from the classical Open Space approach (see Harrison Owen on our Global Advisory Board). On the first day of our Dignilogue Workshop, we usually invite everyone to suggest a topic and to be a facilitator/leader for her or his dialogue session. Those participants who propose a topic, then describe it to the group. Then, collectively, we combine and prioritise ideas as needed to finalise the schedule for the rest of the conference. The Dignilogue process encourages us to meet in a spirit of mutual support, equal dignity, and flexibility, which enriches the conversations throughout our 'unconference' conferences.
We sometimes compare a 'formal conference' with a car without wheels, an 'informal conference' with a car without a motor, while our approach would represent a car that moves. We wish our conferences to manifest dignity, and therefore we invite all participants to move the conference forward together, holding hands as fellow human beings, rather than having a rigidly steered conference.
In sum, our caravan conference in the Amazon manifested our general aims more than any other conference. The Dignilogues we had in different locations represented the maximum of an 'unconference' conference: It was a co-created sharing of insights. Wherever we were invited to join local community conversations as part of our 'caravan' conference, we were impressed by the highly skilled and sophisticated ways in which everyone in the group spoke, laying out their impressions, reflections, and conclusions one after the other. Clearly, the talking stick format was used (without an actual stick), which is a well-known 'instrument of aboriginal democracy used by many tribes', ensuring that everyone is given space to speak'.
Let me now explain our solidarity economics approach (see also my book A Dignity Economy). All participants are usually gifting their time pro bono. Our work is a labour of love. Nobody is being paid or gains monetary advantages from our work. Our human dignity movement has a near zero budget. We refrain from going down the path of so many not-for-profit initiatives, which end up becoming 'profiteering non-profits'. We do whatever we can to refrain from building an 'empire' of our work. What we wish to do instead, is to nurture dignity, at all levels and in all details of our work. We wish to highlight our shared humanity on our home planet, rather than abusing social-psychological connectivity for 'empire building'.
There are no registration fees for our HumanDHS conferences (or our online sessions). By practicing a 'lean, green' spirit of shared responsibility, our HumanDHS community has conducted our events for more than a decade by assessing our expenses during the conference and inviting participants to contribute according to their ability (we also gladly welcome electronic contributions in support of our work). I myself live almost without money and do not receive monetary remunerations for my dignity work, which I consider to be a labour of love which I gift to our human family. In our conferences, we always attempt to find ways to cover the cost throughout the conference in the most dignified and dignifying ways. In this collaborative way, we are able to also honour those who contribute more in kind than in monetary ways.
Please join us therefore in thanking everyone for their contributions to this conference! We send our profound gratitude to every single participant and supporter for your generosity! You are beacons of dignity in this world!
Since all participants in our conferences are fully responsible for bearing the cost of their own travel, transportation, and accommodation arrangements, we always kindly ask local participants who reside in close proximity of the conference venue to lend a helping hand to those traveling from afar, which also helps us keep our events collaborative and affordable for all. Allow me to extend our warmest thanks to all those who reside locally and generously gave their support to our foreign participants!
A reason for sadness was that Linda Hartling and her husband Richard Slaven could not be with us in person, due to their family health situation. However, they were very very close in spirit, and without their daily support our conferences would not be possible. Thank you, dear Linda and Rick!
Please see a list of the videos that Linda Hartling created so as to be with us from afar:
Greetings:
• Greetings from Portland, Oregon, America, 2018 (2 minutes)
• Greetings from Portland, Oregon, America, prepared 2015 (7 minutes, and a Pdf from 2014)
Please see Introductory Videos created by Linda Hartling:
• Dignilogue: An Introduction to Dignity + Dialogue, created on 31th May 2015 for our 2015 Kigali Conference
• Greetings to All (short version), created on 16h April 2013 for our 2013 South Africa Conference
• Greetings to All (long version), created on 16h April 2013 for our 2013 South Africa Conference
• Welcome to Everybody, created on 12th August 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference
• Our Open Space Dignilogue Format, created on 12th August 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference
• Please see also the videos on our Appreciative Frame, created by Linda Hartling:
- Appreciative Enquiry 4, a video that was recorded on May 27, 2015, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Linda Hartling, for the 25th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, in Kigali, Rwanda, 2nd - 5th June 2015.
- Our Appreciative Frame 3, a video created in December 2014 (see also Pdf), for the 2014 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 4–5, 2014.
- Appreciative Enquiry 2, a video that was uploaded onto YouTube on August 11, 2012, in preparation of the 19th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, 27th-30th August 2012, in Oslo, Norway.
- Appreciative Enquiry 1, a video that was recorded on October 30, 2011, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Evelin Lindner, for the World Dignity University initiative.
We warmly welcome you to our future conferences. Your participation is of great importance. We are certain that your contribution will have enduring reverberations not only for your work, but also for our dignity network of scholars and practitioners working throughout the world.
Francisco Gomes de Matos, peace linguist from Recife, Brasil, co-founder of the World Dignity University initiative, kindly sent us a 'Communicative Dignity: A Checklist' from Recife, Brasil, where he concludes that 'dignity is more than a quality; it is the essence of our humanity'.
May we extend our very warmest thank-you to YOU ALL!
There are no words to express our appreciation for your amazing contributions!
Evelin & Linda, on behalf of our entire network, 2019
Reflections
Dignity Greetings shared by Michael Boyer with our WhatsApp group on 23rd August 2019
Michael Boyer kindly suggested a new greeting, a Dignity Greeting!
(Evelin Lindner uses the infinity symbol, or the Möbius Strip, or the lying number 8, ∞, to make the 'unity in diversity' principle visible, and to show how this can help us model the form of dialogue that truly manifests the human rights ideal of 'every human being is equal in dignity'.)
Experiences and reflections shared by Evelin Lindner
You may like to have a look at Evelin's picture page of 2019.
A preliminary note: Interestingly, the word 'extractivist' has a much more positive connotation in Portuguese than in English. In English, this word is used for extractive industries such as mining that are often destructive for the environment and the people living near it, while in Portuguese, the words points at traditional sustainable subsistence horticulture-farming: 'O extrativista tradicional da Amazônia mora no coração da floresta, vive da coleta das riquezas naturais, borracha, castanha e complementa sua renda com a caça, a pesca, a coleta de frutos como açaí, abacaba e patoá': 'The traditional Amazonian extractivist lives in the heart of the forest, lives from collecting its natural riches, such as rubber or chestnut, and they complement their income with hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits such as açaí, abacaba and patoá'.
See also reserva extrativista (pt) | extractive reserve (en) | Nutzreservat (de)
Political economist Karl Polanyi proposed the opposition between substantivist and formalist economic models in 1944, see Polanyi and Joseph E. Stiglitz (Foreword), 1944/2001. What Polanyi calls the substantivist model refers to how humans made a living from their social and natural environments since time immemorial, without presupposing rational decision-making or conditions of scarcity. The formalist model describes more recent models of economics as the logic of rational action and decision-making. Production in most peasant and tribal societies is ‘production for use’ or subsistence production, rather than production for exchange with profit maximisation as its chief aim. According to Polanyi, those two types differ so radically that no single theory can describe them all. Anthropologist Plattner, 1989, disagrees with the last point insofar as he posits that generalisation across different societies is indeed possible, as Western and non-Western economics are not so different, and that this is true particularly now, as globalisation impacts all world regions so that there are no untouched pre-industrial societies left, and conditions of resource scarcity exist everywhere in the world.
See also the work of Survival International.On 29th August, Gaby Saab and Evelin Lindner had a dialogue session with students and teachers of the Law of the Land at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA), in Marabá.
Evelin had been asked to touch upon healing pedagogies and practices, resilience studies, social media for dignity. After Gaby's talk she therefore briefly shared with the audience that dignity basically cannot be defined theoretically,that it is embodied. One way to make it visible is by two people holding hands in the way the infinity symbol is formed.
Equal dignity in solidarity is manifested when both partners stay connected while looking into each other's eyes as equals. In this way, they demonstrate unity in diversity (this represents the philosophical notion of non-dualism). Loving solidarity is the strongest force there is.
When we look at societies around the world, however, we can observe two main toxic 'degradations' of this setup:
1. There is the sociocide – the destruction of the social fabric – that occurs in contexts of oppressive hierarchies and it can be demonstrated by one partner standing above the other. Oppressive hierarchies are kept in place by superiors humiliating inferiors, for example, men humiliate women and everything perceived as ‘female’, 'industrial/breadwinner masculinities' dominate, exploit, and mistreat also 'mother' nature. In this situation, many subordinates close their eyes in apathetic resignation, or they look up, either in subservient admiration or in fearful disgust. Some live in the hope or in the illusion that reaching out to superiors and offering them to kiss their hands will make them more caring, while others refuse to reach out to uncaring superordinates and others even contemplate mutiny and revolt. The result is a society characterised by:
1a. apathetic obedience,
1b. the 'Stockholm syndrome', or the identification with the oppressor,
1c. solidarity among those who unite in hatred against oppressors, often in blind obedience to messiah-like anti-leaders.
Conclusion: Noone exits from the top-down frame.
2. Then there is the sociocide inflicted by excessive individualism in Western societies. This can be showcased by both partners remaining equal, that is, both standing upright with their heads at the same height, yet, no longer holding hands but keeping a certain distance from each other or even raising their hands in hostility. Some clasp their hands in front of their chests in self-righteous solipsism, despising and humiliating everyone as lazy who can't buy goods and services with money, in other words, a sophisticated form of the 'Stockholm syndrome' with money as seemingly neutral confirmation of the legitimacy of the principle that only money-based contracts count, while nature or future generations represent insignificant externalities. Others throw their hands up in the air in despair and indignation at the lack of social connectivity and care in society, while yet others use their hands to lash out against scapegoats. The result is a society characterised by:
2a. anomie, isolation, loneliness,
2b. callousness,
2c. hatred.
Conclusion: Noone exits from the illusion of equality in a top-down frame.At the end of this day, Evelin shared some more reflections with Gabriela:
First, when one is being humiliated, it is important to actually feel it (rather than bypass it or suppress it), while, at the same time, extending deep compassionate care to one's violated sense of self. The aim must be to avoid accepting humiliation, to avoid weakening oneself by turning humiliation into shame. Only then is one able to gauge the situation calmly, only then can one read the situation properly and duly prepare for what to do next.
Second: Lets not run from the bullets but also not into the bullets! The Jews of Vienna were being systematically humiliated by their Nazi abusers (old men were forced to go down on their knees and brush the streets of Vienna, even with toothbrushes). This humiliation was basically the first step on the path to a death sentence. Many of the Jews who were thus 'prepared' had no strength left when they faced death camps. Jews from Greece, in contrast, still had strength left when they arrived in Auschwitz on the train from Greece, and they openly revolted. As a result, they were shot on the spot by the SS men. In other words, both groups did not have a chance to achieve some kind of valid resistance: the first groupd had no strength left, the second no time.
Conclusion: Preserve your dignified sense of self and your strength, even in the face of humiliation, stay calm, so that you can form collectives, hide in solidarity, and plan appropriately. Use the strongest force there is, as much as possible: loving solidarity. Nurture this solidarity within the group, avoid building in-group solidarity on out-group hatred, otherwise, you can never turn your 'enemies' into friends.
On 31st August, we undertook an all-day excursion to two fishing communities – the Vila Praia Alta community on the island Ilha Praia Alta in the river Tocantins, and to the Tauiry community on the shores of the river Tocantins – hosted and mentored by biologist and fishing monitor Cristiane (Cris) Vieira da Cunha. Gabriela Saab shared this with the WhatsApp group on 31st August 2019:
Dear Dignifriends, tonight I would like to introduce you to a fishing community called Tauiry, in Pará! There we had the opportunity to understand better and learn with these amazingly humble people. They are extremely dependent on the Tocantins River, which already have a big Dam an there is a project of a Waterway to export non-sustainable extractivism products! The project will not only affect more than 70% of their income but will also make some islands (like the one in the pictures below) completely disappear. All this without any sort of previous compensation so they can restart their lives somewhere else. And they received us with so many smiles and hugs we will NEVER forget! It is like we brought them hope just by listenning to them, but funny enough is their sustainable way of life and the way they are organizing themselves for their rights and the rights of the river what brought Us hope! As Evelin said, the world has to come to those places to learn with these people. They should not change! They are the hope!
On 31st August, we started in Marabá at 5 o'clock in the morning, first by car and then by boat. On the way, we took pictures from the car of one of the insidious problems that plagues the Amazon: the destruction of the Rainforest so that cows can graze, so that people can eat more meat (see the EU-Mercosur agreement), and the few landowners can amass more power... The problem are not small farmers. When Evelin Lindner was in Brasil in 2012, she inquired (see 2012 Digniventure reflections) and found the MIT Project Amazonia website showing that 0.8% of landlords possess 43% of the land, 53% of landowners (small peasants) own 2.7% of the land, while Multinationals own 36 million hectares of Brazilian territory. Pará is the size of several Western European countries combined, and it is normal for a land owner to own half a million cattle. Pará has a sad reputation for its hired gunmen. See als: 'Revealed: Rampant Deforestation of Amazon Driven by Global Greed for Meat', by Dom Phillips and Daniel Camargos in São Félix do Xingu, Andre Campos in São Paulo, and Andrew Wasley and Alexandra Heal in London, The Guardian, 2nd July 2019: 'Investigation exposes how Brasil’s huge beef sector continues to threaten health of world’s largest Rainforest: "We must not barter the Amazon Rainforest for burgers and steaks" ... 'Because of the high volume of Brazilian beef shipped to China and Hong Kong, these markets are associated with the highest amount of deforestation in total – between 17,400 and 26,400 hectares per year – according to the analysis. The EU also imports more than $600m worth of beef from Brasil each year. And that will increase if the EU and member states approve a new trade deal with Brasil, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to gradually let 99,000 tonnes of low-tariff South American beef into Europe every year'. See, furthermore: 'Revealed: How the Global Beef Trade Is Destroying the Amazon', by Andrew Wasley, Alexandra Heal, Dom Phillips, Daniel Camargos, Mie Lainio, André Campos, Diego Junqueira, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 2nd July 2019.
Upon arrival by car, we continued by boat to a fishing community on the Praia Alta island in the middle of the river Tocantins, passing the famous Pedral do Lourenção rocks (which we could not see, due to the artificially high water levels). Evelin Lindner's report: We learned that the water of the river is already so polluted that the people living on its shores can no longer drink it: they have to fetch it from another village which still has clean water. We saw a big installation in the river, and we were told that it is to extract diamonds – the local population, however, does not in any way benefit from this extraction – yet, this is only a small source of the pollution of the river. A hydro-electric dam has already been built in the north of Marabá, the Tucuruí dam, against the resistance of many people, and now the next step of this mega-project is being scheduled, namely, to turn the river into a navigable waterway for big ships – a hydrovia – to transport cattle, GM soya, and aluminium. Boulders that are a billion years old, in other words, billion years of eco-infrastructure, shall be removed to industrialise the river. The local population will no longer be able to use their small boats to go the city and to sell their own sustainable products. The water level is already now artificially controlled, so that the fishermen, whose calendar normally depends on the moon and who respect the periods in which fish is reproducing, now have their areas of reproduction and the level of the river dictated by this new 'hydrovia'.
Evelin's reflections at the end of this day: The fishermen that Gaby and I met felt guilty for standing 'in the way of progress' because they wished to remain on their land at the shore of Tocantins river and not be evicted by industrialisation. I tried to explain to them that THEY represent progress in its true form, and that the rest of the world stands in the way of progress. The rest of the world ought to come to them and learn from them how to live as part of nature. They are the opposite of coal miners who actually do stand in the way of progress if they force coal mines to stay open with the argument that they wish to hold on to their familiar lifestyle...
Gaby and Evelin were hugely impressed by the profoundly dignified and dignifying format of the community gatherings we had the privilege of being invited to. In a very skilled and sophisticated way, everyone was given the floor to speak, all participants laid out their impressions, reflections, and conclusions, one after the other. Clearly, the talking stick format was used (without an actual stick), the well-known 'instrument of aboriginal democracy used by many tribes', a method that ensures that everyone is given space to speak.
These are Evelin's reflections on the architecture in the region: 'How sad that houses look exactly alike all around the globe now: Boxes of concrete columns filled with bricks. If I had a magic wand, I would replace all these buildings over night with local architecture...'.
'If I had a magic wand, I would make all those "modern buildings" disappear over night and replace them with something more locally appriopriate. To me, this global style is horrendously ugly and inhumane, its uniformity destroys the global diversity of traditional materials and traditions, it rapes local landscapes, and it is unfeasible for most local climates. This global obsession with imitating the supposedy "wealthy" parts of the world is one of the many expressions of systemic humiliation, of systemic ecocide and sociocide. Where is your local pride, I want to ask the people who plan for such buildings? Please, forget about notions such as "developed world", because it is a short-sighted development built on unsustainable exploitation. The Amazon is a complex system, and people who know how to live with it sustainably, they are the ones who are truly developed...'.
'Again, as everywhere else in the world, also here I see this global uniformity, high rise buildings that are supposed to impress with their "modernity" but elicit sadness and resignation. As everywhere else, they usually are already dilapidated when new, and the ubiquitous "cable salad" laughs at them. Where is the city I hope for? Where is the city that is truly future-oriented, that expresses dignified and dignifying unity in diversity, where is the city that nourishes, rather than be exploitative? The refugees from Venezuela standing at the side of the streets in Belém, with large hand-painted signs made from card-board saying "I am Venezuelan", they can speak to the horror, fear, and despair that befalls even the richest city in a matter of a few days when three things fail, when (1) electricity and (2) water are cut and (3) the shops are looted. This is what happened in the once 'wealthy' oil town of Maracaibo in March 2019'.
Evelin Lindner's reflections on 5th September 2019: 'Brasil Continues to Destroy the Rainforest – But Resistance Is Growing' is the title of an article that was published in Germany in July 2019. The title explains how the forest is cut and then tells the story of a small indigenous group who vows to resist. The title gives European readers the impression that they can lean back in the hope that the problem with the Amazon will be solved within Brasil. The European reader remains unaware that, for example, the EU-Mercosur agreement as it stands now works as an amplifier of the problem. In other words, first, we have the European Union aggravating a problem by incentivising exploitation, and when the damage of this exploitation becomes apparent, the same people hope that the exploited themselves will solve the problem. In my eyes, this represents 'double humiliation'. As we know, the problem did not get solved after the above-mentioned article appeared in July, on the contrary, the problem got much worse when massive fires were started on 10th August.
Evelin Lindner's reflections on 20th September 2019, upon return to Germany to take care of her aged father: Germany is a culture shock for me now. Today, I went past a tourist shop called 'holiday-land'. I thought: Here, the 'world house' is on fire, and every hand is needed to contain the fire even though some rooms in the house – such as Germany – are still relatively unaffected. The people in that room are hard-working people, however, they seem oblivious of the fact that many of their 'jobs' contribute to the fire (the production of arms, pesticides, plastic, just to name some), and that their 'normal' lives depend on exploiting others (statistically, every German citizen holds 60 slaves in the rest of the world). When asked to contribute to the containment of the fire, those hard-working people say: 'Sorry, but I am too exhausted from my job... sorry, but I need a holiday in "holiday-land"' (which is another room in the burning house that is still relatively unaffected)... My question: How can we liberate everyone from this systemic dilemma situation that almost automatically leads us all into systemic humiliation? My answer has been to dedicate my entire life to this predicament. In 2012, my answer was to write the book A Dignity Economy, yet, all this is too weak...
Evelin Lindner's reflections on 6th October 2019: International attention to the fires in the Amazon clearly had an impact. In a meeting with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on 27th August 2019, Mato Grosso Governor Mauro Mendes spoke about the fires and on behalf of agribusiness expansion: 'Brasil’s image is extremely important to our relations with most of our clients [in the] outside world. Sixty percent of the state’s GDP comes from exports. So when we have a problem [like the one] that happened a few days ago [with the Amazon fires] and took undesirable [international criticism], I got very worried'.
See 'State Governors Support Bolsonaro’s Amazon Mining, Agribusiness Plans', by Jenny Gonzales, Mongabay, 9th September 2019. His worries may be warranted, as 'People Are Seriously Talking About Invading Brasil to Save the Planet', by Aaron Gell, Medium, 24th September 2019.
Evelin Lindner's thoughts: What about 'invading' the Amazon with the world's students? Why not declaring the Rainforest the world's most important 'analogue university' and elevating all those people who know how to live sustainably within a complex system such as the Rainforest to be 'world dignity professors'? This is the idea of the World Dignity University initiative!
More and more students are now sceptical of brick-and-mortar universities, what about reality as university? What about the reality of the Amazon as university? The knowledge held in the Amazon is a form of wealth that so-called 'developed' countries have lost...
‘Yes, "reality as university", dearest Evelin!’ This was the reaction from our dear Linda Hartling when I shared these thoughts on our conference’s WhatsApp group. Linda continued: ‘The Amazon as university! The Earth as university!’
Our wish is for all the dignifiers of this world to hold hands! We welcome everyone who might be interested to contribute to our particular share in this effort. The website for our World Dignity University initiative was built by our esteemed Uli Spalthoff. We need a full time successor for him now! Also our Dignity Press needs new a person who can hold the threads together and nurture it full time. All what we do is entirely a labour of love, which means that we work on a shoestring budget, that nobody receives a salary, and there are no offices. For our full time positions, we would like to reach out to people with the necessary expertise who are dignifiers, who are just retired with a pension and would like to donate a number of years as a gift to humanity!
A LOVING WELCOME TO ALL!
Evelin Lindner's reflections on 9th October 2019: What shocked me most in the Amazon, is how the concept of dignity is the main battle-field also here. As everywhere in the world, I hear the adherents of industrialisation say that 'true dignity' is linked to what they deem the only 'true 'work', namely, work that is part of the world of money – for example, extracting minerals, or cutting trees for sales, as this can make the GDP go up. (You see the same argument also in this documentary: Who is Protecting our Forests?, Arte, 2018).
What is overlooked is that the GDP does not measure dignity. The GDP can go up also when dignity is being destroyed. True dignity, and true 'work', to me, is what people do when they live in dialogue with the Rainforest, rather than destroying it for short-term profit. We all know that saying: ‘When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money’.
A Summary of Evelin Lindner's impressions during the 2019 Dignity Conference in the Amazon, 10th October 2019
In this video, Evelin Lindner tries to summarise her impressions and reflections in the Amazonian State of Pará from 26th August to 10th September 2019. She created this video after the 33rd Annual Dignity Conference had ended, of which she was one of the conveners. The conference took place in Marabá and Belém from 29th August to 7th September 2019, and was accompanied by a global WhatsApp group. Please be aware that this video has been brought together using very basic software. It is kept 'unlisted' to protect the privacy of the people who are included.
This is a film shared by biologist Cristiane da Cunha with our WhatsApp group
Encontro das Águas, is a film published on 9th October 2019 and sent to us by biologist Cristiane da Cunha.
This is the Portuguese text:
Socializar informações e estudos referentes aos empreendimentos em construção, operação ou previstos para os rios Juruena, Teles Pires e Tapajós, e construir uma pauta comum de resistência à esses grandes projetos. Esses foram os objetivos do Encontro das Águas que aconteceu de 14 a 16 de junho, no Centro de Formação Emaús, em Santarém, oeste do Pará. Durante três dias, cerca de 140 participantes destacaram os impactos sociais e ambientais provocados pelos projetos, além da resistência feita por lideranças de movimentos, indígenas e moradores locais contra hidrelétricas, portos, hidrovias, ferrovias, exploração mineral, e tantos outros. O encontro contou ainda com a participação de lideranças dos rios Xingu e Madeira, que relataram os problemas sociais e ambientais provocados pela construção das hidrelétricas de Belo Monte (Xingu), Madeira e Jirau (Rondônia). Segundo eles, tais empreendimento provocaram o aumento da pobreza e da violência nas regiões impactadas.
"Socialise information and studies regarding the projects under construction, operation or planned for the Juruena, Teles Pires and Tapajós rivers, and build a common agenda of resistance to these major projects. These were the objectives of the Water Meeting that took place from 14 to 16 June at the Emmaus Training Center in Santarém, western Pará.
Over three days, about 140 participants highlighted the social and environmental impacts of the projects, as well as resistance from movement leaders, indigenous and local residents against hydroelectric dams, ports, waterways, railroads, mineral exploration, and so on.
The meeting was also attended by leaders of the Xingu and Madeira rivers, who reported the social and environmental problems caused by the construction of the Belo Monte (Xingu), Madeira and Jirau (Rondônia) hydroelectric dams. According to them, such endeavors have led to increased poverty and violence in the impacted regions.
These are two films shared by ecologist Marlucia Martins with our WhatsApp group
1. Maravilhosa Amazônia / Wonderful Amazon 2019
2. Defensores da Amazônia / Defenders of the Amazon by Human Rights Watch 2019
Thank you for sharing, dear Marlucia!
Your reflections before and after our conference
Announcements and Good News
• Announcement of our Latest News
• The Dignity Press flyer of 2016
• An Introduction to HumanDHS, March 2013
• A Quick Fact Sheet, March 2013
• Information About Our Leadership and Collaborative Teams, March 2013
What Is the Aim of Our Work?
Please read more in newsletter12.
Welcome Again!
We would like to end this newsletter by thanking all conference participants for co-creating a deeply enriching experience. All our network members have been with us in spirit throughout the conference, and we are very grateful for their ongoing encouragement and support.
Please be most warmly welcomed to our future conference:
Our Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict at Columbia University in New York City in December 2019!
WELCOME!!!
Linda & Evelin, September 2019
2003 – present, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies