I Survived by Mistake

Edited by
Anne Harley and Jonathan Langdon

With
Edward Adeti, Coleman Agyeyomah, Sheena Cameron, Amanor Dzeagu, Leocadio Juracan Salome, Thapelo Mohapi, Zodwa Nsibande, Ro Paradela, Alhassan Shani, Wojciech Tokarz, & Nyeya Yen 

This book is the culmination of several years of partnership between social movements, social justice organizations and academics in Ghana, South Africa, Guatemala and Canada. Called the Translocal Learning Network, this partnership has generated a space for those facing the multiple and overlapping crises of our time to come together and share knowledge and mutually solidarize with each other’s struggles. This knowledge exchange and mutual solidarity has been non-hierarchical and collaborative in nature, and has taken the form of sharing and commenting on complex stories of these struggles through a participatory research methodology known as narrative restorying. As such, this book will focus on the stories each partner has shared, along with engagement with these stories by other members of the network. This interplay of knowledge sharing will provide a window into the social movement learning of network members.

The central argument of the book was best captured by Thapelo Mohapi from South Africa’s Abahlali baseMjondolo: “It is always assumed that when you are poor, when you are living in a shack, when you live in a rural area, when you are marginalized, that you cannot think for yourself, that you cannot be involved in development, because you are poor”; instead of this “People must make decisions and must be consulted, and they must have a voice to speak about their own development. It must be initiated and completed with the people.” This book is literally a space where those on the front line of struggles against land & livelihood dispossession, violent resource exploitation, climate-fueled emergencies, and the denigration of cultural and traditional indigenous knowledge share their experiences, learning, successes, and defeats, with those facing similar and related struggles but in different contexts.

In addition to the stories of these front-line voices, scholars working alongside these struggles also share some of their learnings and ideas that have emerged from the partnership in the book. Students supporting the partnership also share their learning in the book, as well as describing how their activism also provoked learning in the network. In other words, this book provides a window into a rich, ongoing dialogue of mutual learning and support that will speak to audiences in the activist and critical academic communities.

To that point, this translocal network uses the notion of translocality to push back on the capitalist, colonial, and neo-liberal agenda of a) maintaining divisions between people struggling against oppression in different parts of the world (through border controls, language divisions, and colonial racialized othering); and, b) maintaining a knowledge hierarchy that states, international institutions, intellectual institutions, and corporations are those best able to contend with the many crises we face, and even within activists, it is those movements and organizations with broad, multinational reach that can best speak for the affected. Translocality argues that it is those with local knowledge of crises and context that are best positioned to speak to what needs to change, and that local struggles meeting each other as equals, translocally, is the best way to learn from one another without imposing new forms of knowledge hierarchies. Everaldo Morales Baján, from Commité Campisino del Altiplano (CCDA) in Guatemala captures this sentiment well when he says: “This book captures the essence and importance of the different struggles that exist in various parts of the world, but which converge on always caring for the planet and human rights.”

Chapter Summaries

Introduction: Translocal social movement learning: building mutual solidarity and contesting development for social and environmental justice

Jonathan Langdon; Sheena Cameron; Rodrigo Paradela; Wojciech Tokarz

In an effort to encourage connection and mutual learning between local movements, the Translocal Learning Network (TLN) serves as an effective social justice framework that attempts to build and maintain local to local (i.e. translocal) non-hierarchical connections between movements. The overall goal of this research partnership is to catalyze and animate translocal learning as a means to build capacity among localized movements in their struggles for a climate just and anti-capitalist future, and in so doing trace the contours of a theory of translocal learning – learning based on local to local learning as opposed to top down learning that mimics the very problematic of global dominance these movements contest. Key to this process is an insistence that movements and groups rooted in local social change efforts are crucial authors and actors of a climate just and anti-capitalist future. The members of the TLN address ongoing and emergent injustices to claim rights, assert agency, and demand representation and the redistribution of resources for marginalized communities in South Africa, Ghana, Guatemala and Canada. Creating shared spaces for connection, support, and learning through the ongoing struggles of each social movement has provided continuous moments of solidarity and opportunities for reimagining being in the world. This book showcases the perspectives of our partners, providing rich accounts of their experiences that illuminate struggles, insights, and successes. It also includes academic reflections on intercultural exchanges and offers an in-depth analysis of the collaborative learning process.

‘Players change but the game remains the same’: current realities of the poor, particularly in KwaZulu Natal

Zodwa Nsibande, Church Land Programme

This phrase was used by one member of Abahlali baseMjondolo in a meeting where we were talking about elections and the impact it has on people on the ground, especially who are marginalized and yet they are still expected to participate in the upcoming elections. She cautions that we need to be mindful that even if we change the ruling party, the ‘game’, the electoral system, remains the same, producing elites. Apartheid system favored ‘white’ people. Now the current system favors the elite.  The ones who are poor remain poor and left with hope that someday things will change; hope that is shattered yet renewed every five years.

While there is less intense focus on South Africa now that apartheid is over, the sociological legacies continue and the fundamental nature or rules of the game remain intact. It points to the idea that regardless of who is involved, the main objectives, strategies, and overall dynamics of the game do not change. It emphasizes the notion that although the participants may alter, the essence  of the game remains unchanged.

CLP will discuss the current realities of the poor, particularly in KwaZulu Natal, under the ongoing oppressive systems in South Africa, that permeates to all aspects of life, including the electoral system that favors the elites, the failing electricity system with load-sharing, and the improper stormwater  drainage systems in townships and shack settlements, flood-prone areas (compounded by climate change) that results in loss of homes, food, and lives when it rains.

The Talensi-Nabdam Gold Rush: Local Complicity, Resource Exploitation, and the Crisis of Dignity

Coleman Agyeyomah Venceremos & Alhanssan Shani

This discussion will delve into the profound impact of multi-national mining activities on the communities of the Upper East Region in Ghana, specifically focusing on the alarming stories of dispossession of ancestral lands. The region, rich in cultural heritage and agricultural livelihoods, faces a growing threat as multi-national mining companies seek to exploit its abundant gold resources in collusion with State Institutions.

Through an exploration of real-life stories, light will be shed on the multifaceted consequences of multinational mining-induced dispossession of community lands. From the loss of cultural identity to the disruption of traditional farming practices and land degradation, this narrative will highlight the social, economic, and environmental toll on the affected communities.

The discussion will also provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms employed by multinational mining companies to acquire land and the subsequent displacement of local populations. Additionally, throws light on the challenges and complicity faced by these communities in seeking justice and recognition of their rights in the face of powerful corporate interests.

Gold Slavery in Talensi

Edward Adeti & Yen Nyeya, Savannah Research and Advocacy Network

Talensi is a small community in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The Upper East is one of the smallest regions in the country in terms of land size. The people of Talensi are predominantly subsistence farmers who rely on livestock and crop cultivation for their livelihoods.

Mining is one of the commercial activities that require huge parcels of land. Lands earmarked for mining are often fenced and are not available for any other activity even grazing of animals is often not allowed.

The people of Talensi stand the risk of losing their livelihoods due to the influx of a number of mining companies taking up almost 70% of lands earmarked for farming activities

The Río Negro massacre: The abandonment and criminalization of communities in Resistance by the State of Guatemala

Leocadio Juracan Salome, Commité Campisino del Altiplano (CCDA)

The water resource in the highlands of Guatemala, especially in the Verapaces region, has been the scene of large massacres against Indigenous peoples for the implementation of Hydroelectric Plants.

In the 70’s, resistance communities in the banks of Río Negro began facing persecution, dispossession, and criminalization. Río Negro is one of the great rivers that supply the largest Hydroelectric Plant in Guatemala called Chixoy. There were massacres, many disappeared, others forcibly displaced, exiled from their territories where they were born and others who remained in resistance.

With the largest hydroelectric plant in the country 4 kilometers away and despite suffering dispossession and criminalization, more than 500 families from the departments of Quiché, Alta and Baja Verapaz live in conditions of abandonment, without electricity, without development programs for health, housing, education etc.

Despite all the violations against humanity committed in the Río Negro Massacre, many Q’eqch’i’ Mayan families are still waiting for compliance with the resolutions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights -IACHR-, which mandates the recognition of the violations of Human Rights, the compensation to the families and the legalization of some 1,500 caballerías of territory in favor of the families by the State of Guatemala.

We are not opposed to the energy transition, but respect for the lives of families, their development, respect for the life cycle of Rivers and Mother Nature.

Nothing about us without us – Everybody Thinks!

Thapelo Mohapi, Abahlali baseMjondolo

The dignity of the poor can only be achieved if they are part of their own development, becoming stewards and active participants on their own terms and by their own design. This must be a process undertaken from below, democratically, with people being consulted and making decisions, having a voice to speak about their own development. It must be initiated and completed with the people. “Nothing about us, without us”, the slogan used by many movements to demand that the full and direct participation of members must be integral to decision-making, grounds the work of Abahlali baseMjondolo, a shack dwellers movement in South Africa, with more than 180,000 members that was formed in 2005 to fight for, promote and advance the interests of the poor and marginalized.This contribution grows out of a critique of development and is grounded in the understanding that development is neo-colonial and neo-imperial and that is something that is imposed and done to poor people in the formerly colonized countries, with the backing and financial support of Western governments, aid agencies, companies, and local governments. It is always assumed that when you are poor, when you are living in a shack, when you live in a rural area, when you are poor and marginalized, that you cannot think for yourself, that you cannot be involved in development, because you are poor. AbM demonstrates that people and movements are capable of determining what is best for themselves and to ensure the dignity and rights of the poor.

Ada Songor Lagoon; Our Heartbeat!

Amanor Dzeagu, Radio Ada

November 6, 2023 has become another taboo day for the local salt producers in Ada, just as the police confrontation with community members that led to the death of a pregnant woman in 1985. The Story of the Songor Lagoon: Who Killed Maggie?

Mr. John Korletey Agormedah, a 52 year old salt winner died of bullet wounds after he has been shot three times during an attempt to protect his salt winning business. His killing occurred when a joint taskforce and state police sent by Electrochem Ghana Limited, a private company awarded the entire Ada Songor Lagoon in a monopoly lease by the government and some local chiefs to destroy the community members salt winning equipment in the lagoon communities. Local chiefs fail to condemn the barbaric killing of their subject after three months, rather, they quickly reacted and condemn a political candidate for his comments which has been deemed, uncultured language in a viral video. He has been fined 30,000 Ghana cedis, 4 Rams, 4 foreign schnapps or face a ban in the elections. The police continue to arrest, detain and prosecuting community members including chiefs with the offence of inciting community members against the private company.

Translation, Care, and Political Commitment in the Translocal Learning Network

Ro Paradela; Wojciech Tokarz

This chapter examines translation within the Translocal Learning Network as political infrastructure that shapes collaborative knowledge production. Through translator Ro Paradela’s work – employing gender-inclusive Spanish, strategic domestication, and simultaneous interpretation – translation emerges as relational labor that negotiates power, affirms identities, and fosters belonging across linguistic boundaries, transforming communication into an act of care and solidarity.

Research Assistant Learning from Social Movements (Pending)

Sheena Cameron; Ro Paradela

Cameron and Paradela add another dimension of learning in their chapter, sharing their own learnings and reflections from their participation in this network as research assistants, in relation to the changing context and expressed learnings of other former research assistants over the last twelve years, while simultaneously engaged in their own studies – Paradela as an undergraduate honours student, and Cameron as a PhD student.

Learning from subaltern social movements

Anne Harley; Jonathan Langdon

As engaged scholars, with a long interest in social movements, we have been working with some of the social movements who form part of this group over a number of years. We have learned a great deal from our interaction with them, and have worked together to begin to theorize this learning. In this contribution, we discuss what we mean by the concept ‘subaltern social movement’, and why we feel that the learning from such social movements is critical in current times.

Concluding Chapter

Translocal Learning Network

This chapter emerges from the collective reflections of the network on the process of creating the book, and what we have learned along the way. It will respond to the emergent themes and interlinkages identified in the opening chapter, but also highlight the ways in which we have all responded to each other’s stories, comments and analyses.

Author Bios

Edward Adeti, is a Ghanaian-born investigative journalist widely known for his anti-corruption work and courageous journalism despite facing threats. He was named Ghana’s best journalist in 2024 and won the best investigative journalist award the same year. Some of his notable works include: exposing Ghana’s justice system, leading to a judge’s recusal and a minister’s resignation; the documentary “Cash for Justice”, which led to a senior state attorney’s dismissal; “Stealing from the Sick”, an investigative piece exposing medicine theft at a government hospital, leading to arrests and prosecution of some members of a syndicate; and “Blood Gold”, a series he co-authored with Eryk Bagshaw, an Australian investigative journalist, on human rights violations by mining companies in Ghana, winning multiple international awards in 2023. He is a member of SRAN.

Coleman Agyeyomah formerly of Venceremos Development Consult is currently the Director, of Innovation Development Alternatives (IDEAs), a devolvement and organizational change NGO. Agyeyomah has over 20 years in facilitating and the mobilizing of Community Based Organizations/leaders for social change in poor and vulnerable communities of northern Ghana. Above all, he also teaches and provides field-based experiential learning support for students from Universities of Trent and St. Francis Xavier Canada.

Sheena Cameron is a Lecturer at St. Francis Xavier University (Canada) as well as a Research Coordinator of the Translocal Learning Network. She brings decades of community work in West Africa, Guatemala and Canada and community radio and podcasting experience to the writing of her chapter. She holds a Masters in Communication and Social Justice and she is currently completing a PhD in Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for the Study of Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.

Amanor Dzeagu is a community radio practitioner and development communicator working with Radio Ada, a community radio station in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. He works closely with local communities to tell their stories, document their traditions, and advocate for inclusive development through radio and community engagement. With a deep respect for the Dangme culture and indigenous systems, Amanor uses the community radio as a bridge between tradition, development, and the voices of the people. He brings more than two decades of community broadcasting experience to the writing of this chapter.

Anne Harley is a senior lecturer in adult education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg) in South Africa. Working within the radical adult education tradition, she is particularly interested in informal adult education/learning in/through/with struggle, and her work focuses on counter-hegemonic learning and theorising, particularly in subaltern social movements, and is thus related to issues of emancipatory politics, the notion of civil society, and discourses of ‘development’ in South Africa and beyond.

Leocadio Juracan Salome is one of the leaders of the Comité Campasino del Altiplano (CCDA), a large movement of peasant farmers in Guatemala. Leocadio brings decades of political and community organizing experience to CCDA’s contribution to the book.

Jonathan Langdon is a Professor at St. Francis Xavier University (Canada) in Development Studies and Adult Education. Langdon has over 20 years of community engagement, activist organizing and facilitation work, as well as being the convener of the Translocal Learning Network for the last 3 years.

Thapelo Mohapi was born in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape and raised in Durban, KwaZulu Natal. He is the current elected General Secretary of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA, the movement of informal settlements in South Africa, numbering over 180,000 members. Prior to that, he was the chairperson of the Briardene branch in Durban within the movement. He also served as the Provincial Secretary of KwaZulu Natal. AbM is a movement that fights for land, housing and the dignity of the poor in South Africa.

Zodwa Nsibande is a social justice advocate and community leader from Durban, South Africa. She served as  General Secretary of the Abahlali baseMjondolo youth league in 2009, she spoke out against the harmful effects of the FIFA 2010 World Cup on shack settlements , leading to threats that forced her into hiding. In 2011, she joined the South African delegation to the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine (EAPPI), spending three months advocating for peace and human rights. Since 2013, Zodwa has served as a Programme Activist at the Church Land Programme, supporting marginalized communities in securing land rights and dignified living conditions in both rural and urban areas. Most recently, she was a visiting scholar at the University of Sheffield’s School of Law in the United Kingdom from June 24 to July 26, 2024.

Ro Paradela (they/she) is a transfeminist activist from Mexico City. They graduated St. Francis Xavier University with Honours in Sociology and a Subsidiary in Women’s and Gender Studies. They are currently organizing in the fight against the crisis of transfemicidal violence in Mexico.

Alhassan Shani is a development practitioner and works with IDEAs, Northern-Ghana. He has over nine (9) years of experience in development research, community mobilization, social accountability, monitoring and evaluation of projects and development planning process. Alhassan’s development orientation is firmly rooted in participatory development. Additionally, he is passionate about research that encourages community participation, learning and action.

Wojciech Tokarz is a scholar and administrator serving as Associate Professor of Spanish and Interim Dean of the Faculty of Arts at St. Francis Xavier University (Canada). His research examines post-dictatorship Argentine literature, Indigenous representation, and translation theory, in particular how translation facilitates negotiation of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ identities, fostering belonging and advancing decolonial ethics. More information: https://wojciechtokarz.academia.edu

Nyeya Yen is a lifelong social justice activist with over 50 years of advocacy in Ghana and Africa. Exiled in 1982 under the Rawlings regime, he lived in Togo and the UK while campaigning for political justice. Returning in 2014, he continues to fight marginalization in mining-affected communities in Ghana’s Upper East Region.