Exploring "Teaching Power": A film about radical democracy in Malawi

About this event

Our featured guests for this month's Real World Co-Intelligence community learning call are Edwin Msewa, lead organizer, and Patrick Chalmers, documentary filmmaker .

Edwin Msewa is a Social Accountability Manager at LGAP Project in Malawi. He was an initiator and catalyst for this Citizens' Assembly process based on a Citizens' Jury model, and has written a case study about it.

Patrick Chalmers is a journalist and film maker who is focused on making political structures truly democratic. After working at Reuters for 11 years, his disillusionment with the news agency led him to walk away and write Fraudcast News (2012). He now directs All Hands On, a documentary film company focused on ordinary people doing radical democracy.

If you'd like, you are welcome to preview the 21-minute film Teaching Power before attending the call.

During the call, we will be watching the film together, reflecting on its impact, and hearing Edwin and Patrick's stories about organizing and filming this extraordinary process.

More about the film

In this film, shot in Malawi, you could say that Africa is showing us the way. We see once more how citizens’ assemblies can address tricky political issues that appear to be beyond the capabilities of elected representatives. For all the exotic charm of this southern African country, and Malawians’ alluring friendliness and heartfelt welcome, the challenges of politics as usual are wearily familiar.

And yet this is a very hopeful film... Read more here

Format & Hosting team

CII's Real World Co-Intelligence calls are designed to be highly participatory. Depending on the number of participants, we will sometimes use breakout groups.

Each month, in addition to our guest presenters, we also hear from Tom Atlee, who offers some commentary on the various Wise Democracy patterns that are embodied in the project we are showcasing.

Also each month, the calls are recorded so we can share the learnings with others. More details on the design of the call are in the section below on additional resources.

Your hosts for this call will be Rosa Zubizarreta and Andy Paice.

Registering

This month, we are requesting a donation in order to register. You are welcome to contribute whatever you can; the suggested donation amount is between $10 - $20.

The Co-Intelligence Institute, a non-profit 501c3, will be donating all proceeds from this event to sponsor a local screening of this video in Malawi. Estimated costs for a screening are around $600 , to cover the venue, travel expenses for organizers and Assembly participants, equipment rental, and refreshments.

Update about the current extreme weather crisis in Malawi

Dozens of Malawians have died in recent days during the second visit by record-breaking Tropical Cyclone Freddy, whose winds and rain triggered flooding and mudslides in the south of the country. Reuters news agency's reporting relied on video footage and still photos shot by Teaching Power's lead camera operator and local producer Eldson Chagara.

Freddy has been one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere and could be the longest-lasting tropical cyclone, according to the World Meteorological Organization. After pummelling central Mozambique, causing widespread flooding and ripping off roofs, it moved inland towards Malawi where its torrential rains triggered deadly landslides.

While it is too early to say what impact the climate crisis has had on Cyclone Freddy, scientists have said climate heating is making tropical storms more intense and powerful.

Additional Resources for this Event

All Hands On Website

https://www.allhandsondoc.com/

Case study of democratic innovation in Malawi

https://epd.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/case-study-malawi.pdf

Wise Democracy Pattern Language

We’ll be referring to different patterns from the Wise Democracy Pattern Language website during the call. Here's a slide-show of the deck if you'd like to browse through the cards.

Previous Real World Co-Intelligence Calls

Information of previous calls and the video recordings can be found on the CII Community Learning webpage.

Design of the call

We'll start by introducing our guest presenters, Edwin Msewa and Patrick Chalmers, who will offer a brief initial presentation before we view the film.

After the viewing, participants will have the opportunity to offer a round of comments, questions, and insights, as some initial feedback to the presenters. After the participant round, our guest presenters will have the opportunity to respond at some length to participants' input.

Then we'll be hearing from Tom Atlee, who will explore the co-intelligence principles and Wise Democracy patterns that he sees embodied in this project.

This will be followed by a second round of participant comments, before we end the call.

Learn about upcoming calls:

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And, if you'd like to let us know about the work you do, so we can explore the possibility of inviting you in as a guest presenter at some point, please be in touch here.