Vanessa Mechado de Oliveira Andreotti is an Educator and scholar raised in Brazil, and a founding member of Gesturing Toward Decolonial Futures (GTDF). Her recent book (2021) Hospicing Modernity invites us to ask ourselves some important questions
What if racism, colonialism, and all other forms of toxic, contagious divisions are preventable social diseases? What if collective healing will be made possible precisely by facing together - the end of the world as we know it?
. First we must deal with four denials:
1. Denial of systemic, historical and ongoing violence and complicity in harm
2. Denial of the limits of the planet and of unsustainability of modernity and coloniality
3. Denial of entanglement (we see ourselves as separate) within a wider living metabolism that is bio-intelligent
4, Denial of the magnitude and complexity of the problems we need to face together rather than the simple solutions (that make us feel and look good). that may address symptoms, but not root causes
She contrasts depth education with mastery. For example with climate change and social justice, mastery does little. As concerned citizens of the planet and activists ask ourselves instead::
1. How do we prepare ourselves to face difficulties, the good, the bad and the ugly?
2. How can we be kind and responsible to ourselves, one another and the land?
3. Can we learn to chooses sobriety, maturity, discernment and accountability in a culture of modernity that often promotes and rewards the opposite?
4. Can we see predicaments rather than problems to be solved?
Her book invites us to become more self aware. How complicit are we? Check out podcasts and her website for opportunities to go forward together for a happier and healthier future.
What if racism, colonialism, and all other forms of toxic, contagious divisions are preventable social diseases? What if collective healing will be made possible precisely by facing together - the end of the world as we know it?
. First we must deal with four denials:
1. Denial of systemic, historical and ongoing violence and complicity in harm
2. Denial of the limits of the planet and of unsustainability of modernity and coloniality
3. Denial of entanglement (we see ourselves as separate) within a wider living metabolism that is bio-intelligent
4, Denial of the magnitude and complexity of the problems we need to face together rather than the simple solutions (that make us feel and look good). that may address symptoms, but not root causes
She contrasts depth education with mastery. For example with climate change and social justice, mastery does little. As concerned citizens of the planet and activists ask ourselves instead::
1. How do we prepare ourselves to face difficulties, the good, the bad and the ugly?
2. How can we be kind and responsible to ourselves, one another and the land?
3. Can we learn to chooses sobriety, maturity, discernment and accountability in a culture of modernity that often promotes and rewards the opposite?
4. Can we see predicaments rather than problems to be solved?
Her book invites us to become more self aware. How complicit are we? Check out podcasts and her website for opportunities to go forward together for a happier and healthier future.