As the British economy has moved away from manufacturing and toward financial services, growing numbers in the city are unemployed, underemployed or in precarious employment, and the use of food banks is on the rise. Inequality has increased, with life expectancy as much as 14 years lower for residents in areas of Sunderland like Hendon, than it is for people outside the city in rural Northumbria.
Civil society, like the society it serves, is ever changing. If we are to harness the transformative energy of young people and communities, structures and funding will need to change to keep pace. People are eager to work together for the common good, we just need the government and funders to loosen the chains and let it happen.
On February 13th Amber Rudd announced the creation of a new tool to remove extremist content from the internet. However, to focus too much on content removal and takedowns would be a grave error. We are losing sight of the fact that the online space is not just a breeding ground for extremism; it can also be turned against violent extremist groups to reach vulnerable individuals and change their paths. This is why, over the past six months, I’ve run a programme which takes a different approach.
Recognising that the ongoing systemic injustice of the global War on Terror demands a transnational, civil society response, organisers and advocacy groups from the UK, the US and France, came together in Warsaw in October 2017 to form the Transatlantic Coordination Against Racism and Repression. Two of its participants discuss aspects of the historical and …
Behind the European system of border control known as “push-back” lies a racist and violent ideology that only civil society, working deliberately across borders to understand and undermine the status quo, can overcome. In November 2015, a video of a Greek coast guard was released. The video shows a rubber boat carrying irregular migrants floating …
Gay, lesbian, old, young, black, white, disabled… we often organise around distinct identities. But are these really helping us – or will they hold us back unless we adapt? Of course, they’re not bad very often. People organise, campaign, volunteer and donate to reduce the inequality endured by particular identity groups all the time. Much …
Part of the purpose of this inquiry is to provide a space for conversation about difficult and controversial subjects which either ignite strong feelings, or get ignored through fear and embarrassment. This article is intended to stimulate an open and respectful conversation about some of these issues, and does not necessarily represent the views of …
African feminist movements are diverse. But we can, and must, learn from decades of transformational organising on the continent. As African feminists, we face multiple systems of oppression including the effects of colonisation, neocolonisation, white supremacy, militarism, the globalisation of capitalism and neoliberalism. Yet our movements are more vibrant and radically political than ever before. …
Chatting to people in the street isn’t scientific. But it does give you a sense of something. It does allow you to get a bit of a feel for how particular kinds of people in specific sorts of places talk about things. It permits a glimpse of the light from some of the fractures in …
No white, cisgender, middle class man just “lands” in a senior position in an organisation.
