Afrikaans dictionaries translate padkos as ‘provisions’ in English. It is made up of two separate Afrikaans words: pad, meaning road; and kos, meaning food. So it describes food for the journey.

Church Land Programme’s padkos initiative began in 2010 as an email-list to provide and share some resources for our journey. In the beginning, those resources were limited to written pieces that come from, or con- nect with, the thinking and reflection that is part of our praxis. Over time, padkos has expanded into a vibrant and varied pro- gramme. But the core aims have remained the same, and we’ve always tried to ensure that the padkos we share is seasonal, locally-grounded, and nutritious.

WHY?

CLP has often spoken of its work as a journey, and we are inspired by Paulo Freire’s phrase that “we make the path by walking”. The journey of our work is deeply rewarding, and our main guide and inspiration remains the rebellious struggles of the people. But it is also a long and demanding journey. As we continue together, we all need padkos – sustenance and food-for-thought along the way. CLP makes this padkos available because emancipatory action is always thought; because reflection strengthens struggle; and also because we have been asked to! This initiative is one aspect of our response to requests from friends & members, colleagues & com- rades to be ‘fed’: to hear from and learn with CLP about its think- ing and work.

HOW?

Padkos began as a low-traffic email distribution list for people directly connected with CLP, as well as fellow travelers interested in and supportive of CLP’s work. In the beginning, we simply shared written pieces.

In response to the interest the readings generated, we created the ‘palaver’ where we could get together to focus on a particular issue or paper, and really discuss and digest the richness and challenges. In turn, the palaver then grew into a remarkable pro- gramme of padkos events that draws in friends and guests, from across the country and around the world, sharing their work and thinking in interactive discussions at our offices.

We also developed a programme showing films & documen- taries that has been really stimulating and enlightening. Watch- ing them together enables us to understand, to learn from, & to make connections with other struggles in other contexts – and also with diverse modes of emancipatory organisation and strug- gle around the globe. We called this aspect of padkos, the ‘bioscope’.

Another dimension of the evolving padkos menu incorporated culture as a rich and nourishing part of our ‘food for the journey’. Padkos ‘intermission’ has included creative events featuring, for instance, poetry & art, food & drink – and lots of live music.

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  • In, against, beyond, corona

    in, against, beyond, corona

    Church Land Programme
    USD $ 5.00 – USD $ 12.00
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    In, against, beyond, corona

    in, against, beyond, corona

    Church Land Programme

    Description (1711 / 2500)
    Part of what is revealed is what is wrong and toxic – in ourselves, in our relations with others, and in our relation with the rest of non-human nature. But it’s also terribly important to listen for and to seek out what is revealed that is good and life-affirming. Both are vital. Our current situation is deeply structured by capitalism and as such has made all of our lives, livelihoods, relations and goods tied up with, and dependent on, reproducing that system. It is clear that the real catastrophe is the inevitable and accelerating spiral of death that flows from that logic of capital and of money. But new (and old too) forms of experimenting in radically different ways of doing/being/relating that flow from it are also revealed – the ways of thinking and doing that reject the logic of power-over, of competition or profit, of exploitation and humiliation. Can these be sustained beyond the immediate corona crisis?; shouldn’t we be encouraging people to identify these areas and think/act them as a present future, planning and imagining how to extend them forward in time?; and expanding them to growing spheres of life? At the level of values and principles, we do wonder whether kindness, social solidarity, and an appropriate scale of time, aren’t perhaps the most important of these?

    We are much more likely to actually change the world when we listen and tap into all the many ways in which people’s own questions and thinking, their ways of relating and acting, refuse the logic of toxic power and monetised exchange for profit. Here, we will discover already-existing breaks and practices that, instead, embody and embrace the values and principles for a better way of reproducing life.

    USD $ 5.00 – USD $ 12.00
    Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page