Reexamining our Work, Releasing Tension and Renewing Hope
Arthur and I just returned from IMDEC’s five day conference on ’systematization’ at a Franciscan monastery located on the outskirts of Guadalajara. In a nutshell, systematization is a popular education methodology for reexamining organizational and personal work, releasing tension and emotions, and renewing hope. The workshop doubled as group therapy for the attending popular educators, social-cultural actors and activists; rich in cultural realizations and, for us, a serious language lesson.
Taking part in the workshop with attendees and leaders of social movements from Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, and Cuba, was one the most inspiring and moving experiences of my life. It gave me an incredible sense of self, deep understanding and respect for the process of systematization, and recharged hope and drive to keep working toward positive change.
The space, verdant and powerful in its solace, nurtured an introspective and peaceful state for all of the attendees. We spanned generations, movements and countries, yet kept coming back to how much we had in common, in our work and ourselves.
In order to get a better understanding of the process, we split into groups to try systematizing existing community projects run by participants at the conference. I joined a group of Cuban women, one Argentinian woman, and one Mexican man. The community organization we examined, El Garage, is based in the city of Guantánamo, Cuba. We worked to systematize its creation. Our work began with a discussion of the US base in Guantánamo, which ended tense and unresolved. By the end of our three day systematization process, it was clear those barriers had been broken down, and we truly saw ourselves in the other. There are no words to describe the power of that transformative experience.
We found the process so powerful and enriching, we’ve decided to use it to synthesize and better understand our experience here. Whether or not we physically show the process of systematization in our documentary, it will help inform how we piece it all together. This will be an ongoing process, and we plan to share the steps along the way. Below is the process of systematization more technically explained. Please read on to learn more.
Definitions of Systematization
“Systematization is an instrument to better know reality and our location within her,” writes Ana Bickel of Funprocoop, and, “the starting point of systematization of experiences is the social-political practice that we develop from our daily lives.”
In the words of my conference group, “Systematization is a recovery process and critical analysis of experiences through dynamic participation, individually and collectively, to improve practice and to rectify our contribution to social transformation processes.” In my own words, systematization is a participatory methodological process for capturing the history of an experience, facilitating its analysis in an organized critical manner, then depicting and interpreting this process visually to inform future work.
IMDEC’s Chart of Systematization:
Live the Experience → Choose the *object of systematization → Define the *objective → Define the *axis → Elaboration of systematization plan → Historical reconstruction → Ordering and classification of information → Critical analysis and interpretation → Elaboration of conclusions → Elaboration of *products to share lessons learned → The practice continues
Terms Defined:
*Object: The experience being systematized; the definition of what will be systematized
*Objective: The theme to systematize, the purpose of the process
*Axis: Central aspect; “the thread which will weave the experience”
*Products: These could be a visual timeline, a photojournalism project, a video, or a theater piece. It is a way to interpret the process visually and the lessons learned, then present it to others and save it for organizational/individual memory.
Example of Systematization Terms Applied:
Experience: A women’s organization that wants to train new leaders
Objective: Rescue the collective experience of historic leaders to guide the formation of a new generation of leaders.
Object: The birth and formation of our organization since March 8, 1985, (when the intial nucleus is formed), until December 20th, 1990, (when the first provincial congress was realized)
Axis: Factors that permit the compañeras to become leaders. Development of the primary basic rights.
Final Product: Guidelines and guidance for the new leaders. Strengthening of identity of leaders young and old.
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