PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT – TIME FOR THE FIGHTBACK

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged activism, activists, anti austerity, Arcadia Group, austerity, Australia, bedroom tax, benefits, Boris Johnson, campaigning, climate crisis, climate jobs, construction, corruption, Covid-19, cronyism, CWU, Debenhams, east anglia, engineering, eviction ban, featured, fossil fuels, furlough scheme, gig economy, government, green economy, green industrial revolution, Hospitality, hospitals, Jane Loftus, Jo Rust, jobs, King's Lynn, Labour, MPs, nationalisation, NHS, norwich, pandemic, People Before Profit, Philip Green, PPE, public ownership, recession, redundancies, retail, Serco, social security, tax reform, Topshop, Tories, tourism, trade unions, TUC, uk, Universal Credit, welfare state, wildfires.

By John Sillett

The recent collapse into administration of shop group Arcadia and Debenhams’ department stores was shocking, but not unexpected. Both companies have had their assets looted by their owners; Arcadia’s owner Philip Green has become widely seen as the unacceptable face of capitalism. Whilst the vultures pick over the bones of Topshop and its relations, there has been an avalanche of redundancies in many sectors, from construction to engineering. The pandemic has hastened the collapse or rationalisation of companies depending on footfall, like retail, hospitality and tourism.

RECYCLING LIES: TRUMP, MIGRANT FAMILIES AND THE MEDIA

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 24 hour news cycle, activists, Adam Curtis, alternative media, campaigning, detention centres, executive order, fake news, featured, hypernormalisation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, mainstream media, media, media reform, migrant families, migration, politics, putin, reporting, Russia, social media, Trump, US government, USA, Vladislav Surkov.

By Robyn Banks

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump signed an executive order bringing an end to the separation of undocumented migrant children from their parents. This was widely reported in the mainstream press as a win for those had publicly campaigned against this policy. But just saying that doesn’t make it so. The executive order did bring an end to the separation of children from their parents, but there has been no commitment to reuniting the families already separated. Children previously taken from their parents are being kept in camps in the Texan desert, while families crossing the border since the executive order are being transferred to ICE ‘Family Detention Centres’, which have extremely limited capacity. Whilst this was picked up by smaller media outlets and on social media, many in the mainstream press didn’t acknowledge these complications, focusing only on the initial ‘win’.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN A POST-FEES WORLD – BEYOND TUITION FEES #1

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academics, activists, Beyond Tuition Fees, Bright Green, consumerism, cost of living, democracy, diversity, education, employability, featured, Free Education, future, government, HE policy, higher education, jeremy corbyn, Labour, Lib Dems, marketisation, mental health, NUS, postgraduate tutors, progressives, representation, sexual harassment, social justice, social mobility, strike action, student activism, student debt, student experience, student life, students, students' unions, Tories, trade unions, tuition fees, UCU strike, uk, universities, university staff, utopianism, welfare.

By Bradley Allsop and Calum Watt

It is a time of extraordinary potential for change in UK Higher Education. Labour’s promise to end tuition fees has defied the critics and united many behind Corbyn’s political project. But what will the implications for universities be if this comes to pass? And what can we do to leverage this progress? In this new series, the Norwich Radical and Bright Green are bringing together perspectives from across the sector to explore these questions.

Politics is in a very different place than a few years ago. Radical change feels possible, tangible, close. The Labour Party’s pledge to scrap tuition fees is one of many signs of this – welcome, and necessary to salvage higher education from the marketised juggernaut it has become. But just abolishing fees is not enough to fix all of higher education’s problems.

BLAMING THE BEAR – THE 21st CENTURY RED SCARE

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 100 years, 1918 Immigration Act, 1918 Sedition Act, 2016 US Presidential election, activists, Adam Ramsay, anarchists, anti migrant, arrest, Arthur Miller, Artie Shaw, berlin wall, bolshevik party, Brexit, burqa ban, capitalism, capitalist west, Catalonia, cold war, communism, communist east, Department of Justic, deportation, EU referendum, General Strikes, government, hammer and sickle, Hollywood, independence referendum, Leave Campaign, media, muslim ban, nuclear weapons, openDemocracy, Palmer Raids, People's Republic of China, political phenomena, prevent strategy, provisional government, public hysteria, putin, Quebec, red menace, red scare, Russia, russian revolution, sharia law, Soviet, spain, Stalin, state power, The Crucible, Truman, Trump, US Patriot Act, USA, USSR, W E B Du bois, wwii, xenophobia.

by Chris Jarvis

Tuesday November 7th marked 100 years since the Russian Revolution, when the Bolshevik Party overthrew the Provisional Government in Russia established in February of 1917. What followed was 84 years of Government by the Party in Russia, and what came to be known as the USSR, as well as a global struggle for ideological, economic, military, and imperial dominance between the “communist” east and capitalist west.

Throughout that period, a central plank of western political policy and rhetoric was the fear-inducing concept of the red menace and its attempts to wreak havoc upon the democratic states of Western Europe and North America. Erosion of civil liberties, aggressive policies on migration, and imperialist adventures through East Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa were all justified with the visage of Joseph Stalin, conniving communists. and the hammer and sickle looming ominously as a backdrop.

Amongst the most brazen of these were the infamous ‘red scares’ – periods of government, media and public hysteria about the communist threat, primarily confined to the USA. Continue Reading

THE LEFT HAS DEFIED THE ODDS. NOW WE NEED TO SHAPE HISTORY.

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged academia, access, accountability, activism, activists, agitate, anti-establishment, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Bright Green, campaigning, citizens, climate change, conservatives, democracy, democratic education, direct action, diversity, economics, election, empowerment, establishment, Free Education, GE17, general election, grassroots, grassroots media, higher education, independent media, inequality, internal democracy, jeremy corbyn, Labour, Labour manifesto, left, Lincoln, mainstream media, media, media bias, Norwich Radical, Novara Media, openDemocracy, Parliament, parliamentary majority, political apathy, politics, polls, power, progressive alliance, progressive parties, Rethinking Economics, Social Science Centre, strategy, students, technology, theresa may, training, Trump, truth to power, upskilling, voter engagement, voters.

by Bradley Allsop

For the third time in a year an earthquake has rocked the political establishment, upsetting polls, pundits and precedent alike. Yet this time, unlike the division and isolation of Brexit, or the utter horror of Trump, we instead have hope. Snatching insurgence from the jaws of implosion, Labour and the broader left have risen to the edge of power. Yet whilst the election result was an excellent start, surviving the challenges our society faces will require much more. We need to build a movement which aims for nothing less than a complete transformation of our society. It is crucial now that we do not succumb to hubris or allow ourselves to be absorbed by the internal Conservative party debates – we need to use the time granted by their division to plan, organise and mobilise the movement that will transform Britain.

SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING – WHY THE NUS DISAFFILIATION ARGUMENT FAILS TO CONVINCE

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged activism, activists, alternative, Brexit, controversy, direct action, disaffiliation, EU, EU referendum, HE bill, Leave Campaign, legal support, malia bouattia, nss, NSS Boycott, NUS, nus elections, organisation, protests, referendum, rent strike, representation, Richard Brooks, rights, solidarity, student activism, student politics, student services, students, students' unions, tef, Tom Harwood, tuition fees, UCL.

by Alex Powell

Recent years, have seen a spate of referenda within students’ unions on whether they should continue their affiliation to NUS. One of the union’s most prominent critics, Tom Harwood, is running for NUS president this year. With all this going on, I feel like it’s a good time to throw my hat into the ring.

PAVEMENTS, POTHOLES, AND POLLING DAY

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged #onyourdoorstep, activists, civic education, council tax rates, education, election, engagement, housing, local elections, local issues, local politics, local vote, norfolk, Norfolk County Council, norwich, pavement politics, policies, polling day, pothole politics, register to vote, social care, turnout, vote, voters, voting, voting matters.

by James Anthony

Having been a candidate in a local election last year, I spent a lot of time telling people ‘vote for me’, and as a candidate again this year, I’m doing much the same thing. The more I think about it however, it’s the first third of that phrase that is truly the most important part, and although local politics may not be all that exciting – it is something that affects everyone – above all we need to convince people simply to ‘vote’.

Part of this is acknowledging that the majority of people don’t even vote in local elections, and far fewer get excited about them. It’s a huge issue that turnout usually sits at well below 40% in local elections, but an issue that is difficult to examine as a political activist. In the run up to polling day I am surrounded by activists who (quite rightly) put a lot of time and effort into campaigning locally, and the dedication of my colleagues and political opponents never fails to impress me. As activists, we have to learn to accept that most voters don’t get quite as excited about it all. We need to view things from a different perspective if we want to see why turnout is so low and what we can do to improve it.Continue Reading

HOW THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT IS REBRANDING ITSELF

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged abortion, activists, Americans, anti abortion, Christianity, death penalty, democrats, feminism, feminists, Feminists for Life, gun violence, lives matter, Loyola Students for Life, Loyola University, LSFL, New Orleans, New Wave Feminists, planned parenhood, pro choice, pro life, pro women, religious, republicans, Roe v Wade, Secular Pro-Life, senate seats, Students for Life, The Vagina Monologues, tolerance, Trump, unborn lives matter, universal healthcare, USA.

by Tara Gulwell

Article mentions pro-life rhetoric, and abortion

The American Catholic college I attend, Loyola University New Orleans, has been experiencing a fierce debate on campus recently. After fierce backlash against the controversial moves of the pro-life group Loyola Students For Life (LSFL), which you can read about here, the group had to concede in a public statement that The Vagina Monologues was “an empowering work of feminist art meant to bring awareness to discrimination, sexual abuse, and other important issues affecting women.”

Not quite the opinion you’d expect from a bunch of religious pro-life students, right?Continue Reading

WHY TRADITIONAL CAMPAIGNING NEEDS A COMEBACK

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Community, Inter|national and tagged activism, activists, campaigning, communication, conservatives, county council, door knocking, elections, engage, general election, Green Party, internet, Labour, Liberal Democracts, norfolk, norwich, online, politics, polling data, progressive parties, protets, rallies, rhetoric, Richmond, social media, Tories, traditional campaigning, voters.

by James Anthony

The other week, I made the decision to purchase train tickets for a 4AM journey down to London, just a few days before all of my university coursework was due. As with many other activists across the country, I was off to spend the first day of December in Richmond Park talking to voters for the parliamentary by-election taking place there. Some people might call that a stupid decision – and they’re probably correct – but there is an important reason as to why I did it. It’s the same reason that I trudged the streets of Norwich in May and again in June this year putting bits of paper through letter boxes and knocking on doors as I went around. I believe that traditional political campaigning holds the key to winning elections.Continue Reading

THE BLIND SPOTS OF THE GERMAN ENERGY TRANSITION — 2ND ROUND FOR ENDE GELÄNDE

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged #breakfree2016, #breakfreefromfossilfuels, #keepitintheground, activists, break free, break free from fossil fuels, civil disobedience, climate change, climate crisis, climate negotiations, co2, coalfields, ecologist, economist, ecosystems, emissions, Ende Gelände, Energiewende, energy transition, environment, EU, exploitation, Ffos y fran, fossil fuel, germany, Germany energy, global warming, good life, green economy, keep it in the ground, lignite, Lusatia, Naomi Klein, natural destruction, Nigeria, open cast mines, people power, profit, reclaim the power, renewable energy, resistance, rhineland, social exclusion, system change, this changes everything, turkey, Vattenfall, Wales, welcome2stay.

by Dorothee Häussermann

Last August, more than 1000 people rushed into one of Germany’s biggest open-cast lignite mines and stopped mining operations for a day. This action of civil disobedience went under the slogan ‘Ende Gelände — stop the diggers — protect the climate’; ‘Ende Gelände’ translates as ‘here and no further’. The campaign called for an immediate coal phase-out, emphasizing the urgency for DIY solutions to the climate crisis in the face of governmental inaction.

What is the problem? Isn’t Germany the paragon of energy transition? Aren’t ecologists and economists alike inspired by progressive policies such as the feed-in tariff that supported the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources? Even Naomi Klein’s film This Changes Everything depicts the German ‘Energiewende’ as a way to go forward. So what are these activists complaining about?Continue Reading

activists

BLAMING THE BEAR – THE 21st CENTURY RED SCARE

SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING – WHY THE NUS DISAFFILIATION ARGUMENT FAILS TO CONVINCE

HOW THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT IS REBRANDING ITSELF

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