The Tyranny of Civility
The Tyranny of Civility Some years ago, a student was celebrated across our media for clearing up rubbish bins that had been upturned by outsourced workers protesting to be insourced (in other words to be part of an employment relationship that honoured basic human dignity). I explained this esteeming of the ‘genteel’ and ‘civil’ over […]
Clear minds. Open hearts. Empowered Wills
We are at our best when our minds are clear, our hearts open and we have full agency over our will.
Largely rooted in adversarialism, competition and combat, our various social, economic and political systems and, certainly our legal system have us living and operating with less coherence than we should, with fearful hearts and therefore inflamed
Healers
What if
Parents saw themselves as healers
The Birth of New Systems Rooted in Restorative Justice, Transformative Justice and Healing Part 1: The Resurgence of Indigenous Knowledge Systems
The word ‘Indigenous’ has its etymological roots in indo from the Latin and Endina from the Greek. Both iundicate the emergence from the very entrails of a place. 1 Gen indicates birth and geni spirit. So, we can say that ‘indigenous’ is related to beings, wordlviews, values, ways of life and ways of knowing engendered from and belonging to a land that existed before the conquisita and colonization.
Care Over Cure
If we take an honest look around us, we partake in a lot of actions that help us to endure the distress of the systems we form part of.
An individual in an abusive situation may be told he or she needs to attend to their mental health.
Vantage
Understood as the point from where we see, the word, ‘Vantage’ can aid us in unpacking the systems in which we are, to a large extent inert non-participants in our own wellbeing.
Bound up in a web of intricate mutuality
It is my firm belief, and my commitment, that our work in restorative justice (making things right again), transformative justice (imagining, creating and birthing better systems), and the various methods in alternative dispute resolution like mediation, is part of how we create the next legal system. One that fosters and supports human inter-identity and human inter-relatedness and that also helps to restore humanity to a right relationship with earth and all of her creatures.
ADR, Mediation and Restorative Justice Roundup
ADR, Mediation and Restorative Justice Roundup It’s been a while since I blogged. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times[i] Best (Well…in a manner of speaking) 2021 has been a strange year. A bit like the classic Tale of Two Cities. It was the Best of Times, It was the […]
Integrative Justice: Presentation for National Strategic Plan on GBVF (Pillar 3)
INTEGRATIVE JUSTICE: Presentation for National Strategic Plan on GBVF (Pillar 3) A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT: TOUGH MINDS, TENDER HEARTS In ancient times the lawyer was the healer in society. In the same way as the physician was the healer of the body, the lawyer was looked to in order to weave back together the unravelled threads […]
Why are you shooting me? Protest, police violence and our violence.
‘Why are you shooting me? Ntumba asked. And then the cop shot him again and again and jumped on him. The shooting of an innocent bystander, Mthokozisi Ntumba during the Wits protests last week was described by Thando Sibanda. Mapping police violence Vicky Osterweil writes that in 21st Century America it’s hard to think of […]