In the last two years – and also through the Covid times - associates of CDRA have been engaged in intense processes of reflection on the impact and legacy of CDRA, and possible future manifestations of the practice it developed and nurtured. Out of engaged discussion and reflection with over 50 people, and a writing retreat, eight essays have been produced. In seeking a contemporary view of practice, these pieces have sought to capture something of the spirit of what we face and recognition of the times in which we live.
We have hosted a series of workshops around these essays over the past year. You will find here the essys and also the recordings of the workshops. (click on each title for the essay, the video and summary essence of each essay) |
1. Drawing the Curtain
by Sue Davidoff
by Sue Davidoff
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
Drawing The Curtain
By Sue Davidoff
Synopsis
Behind every living phenomenon – manifest in our physical world – lies an invisible, generative energy which renders it visible to our senses and to our experience. The dance between the visible and the invisible can be understood as the Dance of Life. How we make meaning of what we experience in the sense-perceptible world is to a large extent dependent on our ability to ‘see’ the (invisible) underlying unity of any phenomenon with our thinking, and with our imagination. Every social process has, too, this underlying wholeness, invisible to the senses but shaping the process itself. Each person brings an entire world into the process with them, and all these worlds are at all times intersecting with one another. Part of my work as the facilitator, is to be attentively receptive; to listen for the energy currents which signal the worlds that are co-existing. And to enable these – through facilitating movement – to become healing forces in the process and the people.
The CDRA Writing Workshop, which took place in November 2019, at Towerland Wilderness, brought a range of people together to begin writing of their practices, practices shaped and influenced by their relationship with CDRA. This piece describes this encounter – how it unfolded, and how the dynamics which held the process captive initially began to shift towards a more enabling and creative movement, bringing disparate forces closer to themselves and to one another. Writing as creative act, as deed, was central to this healing process.
Download the paper here
Drawing The Curtain
By Sue Davidoff
Synopsis
Behind every living phenomenon – manifest in our physical world – lies an invisible, generative energy which renders it visible to our senses and to our experience. The dance between the visible and the invisible can be understood as the Dance of Life. How we make meaning of what we experience in the sense-perceptible world is to a large extent dependent on our ability to ‘see’ the (invisible) underlying unity of any phenomenon with our thinking, and with our imagination. Every social process has, too, this underlying wholeness, invisible to the senses but shaping the process itself. Each person brings an entire world into the process with them, and all these worlds are at all times intersecting with one another. Part of my work as the facilitator, is to be attentively receptive; to listen for the energy currents which signal the worlds that are co-existing. And to enable these – through facilitating movement – to become healing forces in the process and the people.
The CDRA Writing Workshop, which took place in November 2019, at Towerland Wilderness, brought a range of people together to begin writing of their practices, practices shaped and influenced by their relationship with CDRA. This piece describes this encounter – how it unfolded, and how the dynamics which held the process captive initially began to shift towards a more enabling and creative movement, bringing disparate forces closer to themselves and to one another. Writing as creative act, as deed, was central to this healing process.
2. CDRA - Seeding a practice
by Sue Soal
by Sue Soal
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
CDRA - Seeding a practice
by Sue Soal
Synopsis
I offer a personal account of CDRA’s journey, one angle on CDRA itself, seen from my intimate and privileged vantage point of trainee, staff member and associate, over the almost 35 years of CDRA’s existence. While rooted in one part of CDRA’s organisational journey (my 18 years on staff from 1994 to 2011), it is simultaneously my own practice biography and, through this, offers my perspective on the times through which my practice developed. The stories I share seek to offer some insight into me, into my developing approach and into the times, spanning the 1980s in the South African struggle, the end of the Cold War globally, the rise of neo-liberal managerialism and its impact on practice, including a decline in visionary idealism and material resources. It ends where I am now – in a place of uncertainty - alternating despair with the flashes of inspiration that are offered by new initiatives and younger activists and practitioners, by those who are adept at working within these times, while simultaneously seeking to transform them.
Download the paper here
CDRA - Seeding a practice
by Sue Soal
Synopsis
I offer a personal account of CDRA’s journey, one angle on CDRA itself, seen from my intimate and privileged vantage point of trainee, staff member and associate, over the almost 35 years of CDRA’s existence. While rooted in one part of CDRA’s organisational journey (my 18 years on staff from 1994 to 2011), it is simultaneously my own practice biography and, through this, offers my perspective on the times through which my practice developed. The stories I share seek to offer some insight into me, into my developing approach and into the times, spanning the 1980s in the South African struggle, the end of the Cold War globally, the rise of neo-liberal managerialism and its impact on practice, including a decline in visionary idealism and material resources. It ends where I am now – in a place of uncertainty - alternating despair with the flashes of inspiration that are offered by new initiatives and younger activists and practitioners, by those who are adept at working within these times, while simultaneously seeking to transform them.
3. Living bureaucracy in dark times
Tanya Layne
Tanya Layne
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
Living bureaucracy in dark times
By Tanya Layne
Synopsis
This piece describes my process of working out of a reflective social practice within a complex government bureaucracy in the context of dark times, both for the South African public sector struggling to emerge from state capture and then the Covid pandemic. In it, I encounter the centrality of growing connection – relationship with and between colleagues and the nature of our work in the world – as a starting point for growing organisational coherence. Through this reflective writing, the power of observation and listening as foundational practices in enabling connection is clear, together with the centrality of the practitioner – as opposed to methods and tools – in enabling change. And my understanding grows that much of my role in enabling transformative social learning is to make our organisational process visible to us so that we may shape it together in an open and alive way.
Download the paper here
Living bureaucracy in dark times
By Tanya Layne
Synopsis
This piece describes my process of working out of a reflective social practice within a complex government bureaucracy in the context of dark times, both for the South African public sector struggling to emerge from state capture and then the Covid pandemic. In it, I encounter the centrality of growing connection – relationship with and between colleagues and the nature of our work in the world – as a starting point for growing organisational coherence. Through this reflective writing, the power of observation and listening as foundational practices in enabling connection is clear, together with the centrality of the practitioner – as opposed to methods and tools – in enabling change. And my understanding grows that much of my role in enabling transformative social learning is to make our organisational process visible to us so that we may shape it together in an open and alive way.
4. The Hessequa Diaries
by Rubert Van Blerk
by Rubert Van Blerk
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
The Hessequa Diaries
By Rubert Van Blerk
Synopsis
The setting is Vermaaklikheid in the southern Cape where I did some ostensibly “community development” work with the impoverished Coloured community living in a settlement called Skoolkop. I have written about my work, perhaps not the best example of it, but practice is about seeking consciousness in the work – albeit after the fact. I risk telling the story because practice is more than the disciplined professional work we do out there, it is also about context and inner work, and in so doing I’ve put myself on the line. The story reveals a deep personal connection in the encounter between me and the ‘client’, though the latter (in parenthesis) is subject to debate. It also reveals my grappling with the issue of identity in the Coloured community (a category emerging out of our racialised past) as it plays out through the work; it is a South African story, but I suspect might also resonate elsewhere.
Through the writing I’m left with a haunting question, what is being asked of practice as I have understood it in the CDRA when working with the effects of centuries of dehumanisation, dispossession and systematic oppression. How to move with this “behind space” that we do not see or avoid seeing during our work. It is easy to be left feeling lost and despairing in such a situation, yet the writing rendered a sense of potency with myself and the situation fusing into one thing. If this experience has left me feeling changed, what has happened to the world I form part of?
Download the paper here
The Hessequa Diaries
By Rubert Van Blerk
Synopsis
The setting is Vermaaklikheid in the southern Cape where I did some ostensibly “community development” work with the impoverished Coloured community living in a settlement called Skoolkop. I have written about my work, perhaps not the best example of it, but practice is about seeking consciousness in the work – albeit after the fact. I risk telling the story because practice is more than the disciplined professional work we do out there, it is also about context and inner work, and in so doing I’ve put myself on the line. The story reveals a deep personal connection in the encounter between me and the ‘client’, though the latter (in parenthesis) is subject to debate. It also reveals my grappling with the issue of identity in the Coloured community (a category emerging out of our racialised past) as it plays out through the work; it is a South African story, but I suspect might also resonate elsewhere.
Through the writing I’m left with a haunting question, what is being asked of practice as I have understood it in the CDRA when working with the effects of centuries of dehumanisation, dispossession and systematic oppression. How to move with this “behind space” that we do not see or avoid seeing during our work. It is easy to be left feeling lost and despairing in such a situation, yet the writing rendered a sense of potency with myself and the situation fusing into one thing. If this experience has left me feeling changed, what has happened to the world I form part of?
5. Looking where the light is better: exploring the ironies of organisational culture change
by Doug Reeler
by Doug Reeler
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
Looking where the light is better: exploring the ironies of organisational culture change
by Doug Reeler
Synopsis
This is a reflective account of my accompaniment of an international NGO struggling to turn its unworkable culture around, caught between the results-driven, impact-obsessed imperative of the aid industry and the burning humanitarian impulses of its staff responding to the complexities of disaster, and the impact on them of dire suffering. What exactly is organisational culture? Some mysterious cloud or mood or something else more dynamic and identifiable? Who is responsible for it and how is it reproduced in the interpersonal workings of diverse teams? And all of this in the wake of sensational disclosures of abuse and bullying, the rise of #MeToo, decolonisation, Black Lives Matters and LBGTQI, triggering marginalised staff to start to claim their voices while others are left struggling to come to terms with their own power and privilege. Everything appears to be in the air with no anchors around which to weather the storm. All of these are explored, including some thoughts on the opportunities for finding a collective way forward as the whole humanitarian sector is realising the need for transformation, from top-down aid delivery to a practice supporting community-led responsiveness.
Download the paper here
Looking where the light is better: exploring the ironies of organisational culture change
by Doug Reeler
Synopsis
This is a reflective account of my accompaniment of an international NGO struggling to turn its unworkable culture around, caught between the results-driven, impact-obsessed imperative of the aid industry and the burning humanitarian impulses of its staff responding to the complexities of disaster, and the impact on them of dire suffering. What exactly is organisational culture? Some mysterious cloud or mood or something else more dynamic and identifiable? Who is responsible for it and how is it reproduced in the interpersonal workings of diverse teams? And all of this in the wake of sensational disclosures of abuse and bullying, the rise of #MeToo, decolonisation, Black Lives Matters and LBGTQI, triggering marginalised staff to start to claim their voices while others are left struggling to come to terms with their own power and privilege. Everything appears to be in the air with no anchors around which to weather the storm. All of these are explored, including some thoughts on the opportunities for finding a collective way forward as the whole humanitarian sector is realising the need for transformation, from top-down aid delivery to a practice supporting community-led responsiveness.
6. Enlivening the Space
by Keith Struthers
by Keith Struthers
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
Enlivening the space.
by Keith Struthers
Synopsis
Despite working in different mediums, the creative dynamics of social and architectural practitioners are remarkably similar, both in-process and outcome. This short essay parallels these two disciplines in order to deepen our understanding of our own practice, in unexpected ways, by seeing it through the eyes of the other.
When the architectural space is enlivened, it supports the mental agility needed by the facilitator to not only hold the space for the group process but also intentionally enliven it. Then the perceptual nimbleness required of the facilitator to track and anticipate the capricious nature of a lively group process is supported by the influence of the building.
As social facilitator and architect, we create an entirely different quality of experience for participants and inhabitants when we enliven the space in contrast to just holding the space. This move from the box to more nuanced inner and outer spaces requires an exponential shift. It requires vitalising the prescriptive logic of the intellect with the warmth and intentional presence of the artist. Thankfully this process can bring aesthetic refinement, social wellbeing and joy to our practice. Then what is common to both the social facilitator and architect is the potential to become social artists.
The handrail spirals
Where the curved passage widens
Our heartbeat quickens
Sitting and talking
Between somewhere and sometime
Our hearts gently touch
Download the paper here
Enlivening the space.
by Keith Struthers
Synopsis
Despite working in different mediums, the creative dynamics of social and architectural practitioners are remarkably similar, both in-process and outcome. This short essay parallels these two disciplines in order to deepen our understanding of our own practice, in unexpected ways, by seeing it through the eyes of the other.
When the architectural space is enlivened, it supports the mental agility needed by the facilitator to not only hold the space for the group process but also intentionally enliven it. Then the perceptual nimbleness required of the facilitator to track and anticipate the capricious nature of a lively group process is supported by the influence of the building.
As social facilitator and architect, we create an entirely different quality of experience for participants and inhabitants when we enliven the space in contrast to just holding the space. This move from the box to more nuanced inner and outer spaces requires an exponential shift. It requires vitalising the prescriptive logic of the intellect with the warmth and intentional presence of the artist. Thankfully this process can bring aesthetic refinement, social wellbeing and joy to our practice. Then what is common to both the social facilitator and architect is the potential to become social artists.
The handrail spirals
Where the curved passage widens
Our heartbeat quickens
Sitting and talking
Between somewhere and sometime
Our hearts gently touch
7. Moving Backwards into the Future – Embodying Social Practice through the Art of Eurythmy
by Liz Stocks-Smith
by Liz Stocks-Smith
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
Embodying Social Practice
By Liz Smith
Synopsis
Social transformation requires working with the intangibles; the living, forming, invisible processes which create the visible forms and social situations that we experience with our everyday senses. A visible world that dominates our awareness and tempts us to manipulate and try to control it through a mechanistic application of our logical thinking. To develop a sensibility for the invisible, underlying movements of life we need (and can awaken), an ‘inner eye’ and an alive, mobile and responsive ‘seeing-thinking’ grounded in the particularity of the context in which it finds itself.
To disrupt our unconscious and deeply entrenched ‘knowing’ that hinders this sensibility, we need a return to the body and its movement. Not as physical/chemical machine nor as expression of purely personal sentiment, but as journey of discovery into the ineffable wisdom of the human form and to experience our sensing body as “a finely tuned living instrument of perception, the door to both the world around us and to our innermost being.”
Eurythmy, the art of movement that reveals the invisible forming world, takes seriously the qualitative aspect of space and our bodily orientation to it. Bringing together the infinite and finite, the invisible and visible, the inner and outer, the coming into being and the dying away, it grows a visceral awareness that we live at this fine interface of life. Bringing the principles of Eurythmy to a Social Practice striving to open to the unknown and participate with the whole of ourselves in its unfolding, is a uniquely living way of embodying social practice.
Download the paper here
Embodying Social Practice
By Liz Smith
Synopsis
Social transformation requires working with the intangibles; the living, forming, invisible processes which create the visible forms and social situations that we experience with our everyday senses. A visible world that dominates our awareness and tempts us to manipulate and try to control it through a mechanistic application of our logical thinking. To develop a sensibility for the invisible, underlying movements of life we need (and can awaken), an ‘inner eye’ and an alive, mobile and responsive ‘seeing-thinking’ grounded in the particularity of the context in which it finds itself.
To disrupt our unconscious and deeply entrenched ‘knowing’ that hinders this sensibility, we need a return to the body and its movement. Not as physical/chemical machine nor as expression of purely personal sentiment, but as journey of discovery into the ineffable wisdom of the human form and to experience our sensing body as “a finely tuned living instrument of perception, the door to both the world around us and to our innermost being.”
Eurythmy, the art of movement that reveals the invisible forming world, takes seriously the qualitative aspect of space and our bodily orientation to it. Bringing together the infinite and finite, the invisible and visible, the inner and outer, the coming into being and the dying away, it grows a visceral awareness that we live at this fine interface of life. Bringing the principles of Eurythmy to a Social Practice striving to open to the unknown and participate with the whole of ourselves in its unfolding, is a uniquely living way of embodying social practice.
8. Metamorphosis - the sense for truth
by Allan Kaplan
by Allan Kaplan
To see a recording of the session click here
Download the paper here
Metamorphosis - the sense for truth
By Allan Kaplan
Synopsis
It is a dangerous time to be alive, a darkening time. In the search for control, we are in danger of losing the qualities that make us human. We are in danger of losing our sensibility for life. Weaving my social practice together with my journey through the years of this practice, I write to try and understand more of the ‘secret law’ that JW von Goethe, a towering human being, discovered as the heartbeat of life. Hoping that, through understanding this law, I might better be able to discern truth, and protect freedom.
Download the paper here
Metamorphosis - the sense for truth
By Allan Kaplan
Synopsis
It is a dangerous time to be alive, a darkening time. In the search for control, we are in danger of losing the qualities that make us human. We are in danger of losing our sensibility for life. Weaving my social practice together with my journey through the years of this practice, I write to try and understand more of the ‘secret law’ that JW von Goethe, a towering human being, discovered as the heartbeat of life. Hoping that, through understanding this law, I might better be able to discern truth, and protect freedom.