Tag: Social Justice (Page 1 of 3)

Reclaim the Power Mass Protest Camp

Reclaim the Power is back with a mass action camp targeting Drax, a wood biomass power station located near Selby, in Yorkshire.

Drax is a former coal-power station that converted to biomass, and now entirely burns wood biomass. Drax is the UKs single largest carbon emitter and world’s biggest tree burner. Their actions have been repeatedly linked to driving environmental racism and causing huge amounts of harm to communitiesforests and biodiversity.

Communities in the Southern US where many of the trees are processed are trapped in their homes by the air pollution this generates. They are calling on us to shut down the £1.66 million pounds of ‘green’ subsidies that we pay every day to make Drax’s business model viable.

New investigation finds Drax has continued sourcing from rare old growth forest ⤵️  This comes at a time when Drax is asking the gov for £billions more in subsidies – from our energy bills!

The UK Government has announced proposals to use our energy bills to give huge new subsidies to fund planet-wrecking tree burning at power stations like Drax in Yorkshire and Lynemouth in Northumberland.  Please write to your MP asking them to stop the new subsidies for burning trees in UK power stations. 

Reclaim the Power is a UK based direct action network fighting for social, environmental and economic justice. We aim to build a broad based movement, working in solidarity with frontline communities to effectively confront environmentally destructive industries and the social and economic forces driving climate change.

Veggies is delighted to be providing Vegan Campaign Catering. More details to follow.

See also Biofuels Watch, Corporate Watch, Stop Burning Trees, Earth First! and many more groups campaigning to protect the planet from the catastrophic effects of the climate emergency.

Join us also at the Earth First Summer Gathering in July.

 

Veggies Food is Here

Worker Co-op Weekend 2024

Our annual Spring gathering brings together worker cooperators and our wider network of supporters and friends to reconnect, celebrate, get inspiration and learn. There will be great food, music, camping and campfires as well as indoor accommodation and event spaces, and it’s always fun.

Taking place at Thornbridge outdoor pursuits centre near Sheffield, the worker co-op weekend has a 2.5 day programme full of peer learning and business networking opportunities. We’re now co-creating the programme with a mix of planned and open space events, and booking will be open soon so watch this space.

If there are subjects you’d like to see covered, or would be interested in running a session yourself, please add a suggestion to  this list. Discussion about the event is in this forum post.

Worker Co-op Weekend is generously supported by domains.coop

Veggies Food is Here

Samosas for Social Change? Food Activism and Media Ecologies

By Eva Giraud

on

The title of this blog is a tribute to local Nottingham collective Veggies Catering Campaign, who – along with Brighton’s Anarchist Teapot – are two of the UK’s most well-known ‘campaign caterers’. This post isn’t focused purely on Veggies, though, but a long-standing food-activism campaign that some of their members have been involved in, which draws together some interesting issues about how we conceptualise protest media and what the political significance of these conceptualisations is.

In general I want to highlight three things: The first is the difficulty of engaging in what Pollyanna Ruiz (2014) describes as ‘polyvocal’ protest, or mobilizing behind a range of interrelated issues as opposed to campaigning on a single-issue basis; the second is a body of work that explores how activist media practices can be understood as information ecologies (e.g. Treré 2012). The third, and final, thing I’m going to discuss relates to work by Anna Feigenbaum who (both individually and with Frenzel and McCurdy 2013) expands the definition of media beyond conventional communication platforms, in order to explore how other material entities can express (or sometimes constrain) meaning, from the symbolic use of tents in occupations of public space to the repressive use of tear gas to silence dissent. The work engaged in by these researchers has helped me to think through both the conceptual and tactical significance of issues I’ve looked at in my own work, in relation to food activism.

Movements local to me, such as Food Not Bombs and Nottingham Animal Rights, have regularly used food to draw attention to interconnected issues. There are, for instance, regular ‘free food give-aways’ in Nottingham city centre, where vegan food is cooked and served outside fast food outlets as part of long-standing anti-McDonald’s campaigning. What I want to reflect on in a little more depth is how the role of food can be conceptualised in these contexts, as a tool for polyvocal protest.

Veggies’ own What’s Wrong with McDonald’s? pamphlet is still distributed today as a defiant marker of the anniversary of the McLibel trial, and for the past twenty years has worked in conjunction with the McSpotlight website to articulate the series of problems drawn together by McDonald’s. While the pamphlet succinctly listed a range of issues – including worker’s rights, animal welfare, environmental destruction, littering, exploitative/misleading advertising, and unhealthy food – the website provided an in-depth archive of evidence to flesh out these concerns (see Pickerill 2003), with ‘mirrors’ in other countries to avoid fear of libel. The site also contains PDFs of the pamphlet in multiple languages, to enable people to develop local campaigns of their own.

It more recent times, however, the campaign has faced difficulties in maintaining its polyvocal dimensions. Though McDonald’s was initially a useful emblem for drawing together issues and problems, this had its downsides; while the campaign tried to make clear it wasn’t just McDonald’s that was the problem, but what it stood for, the sight of people flyering outside of the restaurant can lead to assumptions that the restaurant is the main target. This is especially problematic in light of McDonald’s recent emphasis on ‘local’, ‘organic’ produce in its marketing campaigns within the UK, which make it seem like any criticisms have been addressed. Though this has been responded to with a new McGreenwash pamphlet, pamphleteering in a specific site doesn’t always make criticisms of the restaurant resonate with broader criticisms of the agricultural-industrial complex or of the commercialisation of public space. In contrast, though McSpotlight does have the capacity to elaborate on connections between different issues in depth, twenty years after the site’s initial buzz, the website tends to be used as a helpful archive of information for activists rather than a platform to communicate with publics.

Food, however, can be a way of overcoming the limitations of both the pamphlets and web-media. Food sharing, for instance, is useful in de-familiarising commercial rhythms in ways that pamphlets alone might not. Quite often if you’re distributing political pamphlets this just seems part of urban rhythms, something to ignore in the same way that you might ignore commercial flyers. Food give-aways, in contrast, evoke surprise that people are giving something away within a commercial space without trying to sell the product, which often prompts further questions and creates space for dialogue. While I have reflected on these campaigns in the past, in a range of contexts (e.g. Notts Free Food 2010, Giraud 2015), I’ve struggled to articulate exactly what food’s value was in more concrete terms. Yes, different tactics reach different audiences (with specific web-platforms appealing to different sectors of the activist community, whist pamphleteering directly engaged with consumers) and, yes, food distribution was a good way of breaking down barriers and chatting with people, but I felt there was something more to say.

When listening to Feigenbaum’s research at the last SoME seminar, however, I reflected that I was drawing artificial distinctions between food sharing (which I saw as a practice) and pamphlets, websites and social media (which I saw as communication). I also often found myself treating these things separately, and reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of each platform, or how they could work together to compensate for these limitations, rather than taking the more holistic approach that is offered by understanding these practices as being interrelated (as in Treré’s work). If, instead, food is – firstly – understood as media in its own right and, secondly, situated as part of a complex communication ecology, then it becomes possible to grasp its role, and protest potentials, more clearly. In the context of the give-aways, food can be understood as a media which has affordances that emerge through its relationships with the other media involved. To clarify what I mean by this, burgers served in McDonald’s clearly convey different meaning to the burgers cooked outside, which – due to their location, being free and being vegan – communicate oppositional ideas about public space, commercialisation, and animal rights (to give a few examples). The specific resonances the veggie burgers assume, moreover, shift depending on their relation with the other media involved in the campaign, which doesn’t just include the pamphlets that are being distributed but the way the stall is arranged, who is present and what discussions are had.

Thinking through food’s role as part of a broader media ecology, of on- and offline communication practices, is a helpful way of reflecting on the different affordances and constraints of the varied platforms being used, and how tinkering with these relationships could alter these affordances to reach new audiences or make communication more effective. Food, in this context, can be seen as a powerful communicative tool, which both expresses critical meaning, and enacts new – if temporary – forms of social relations. Whilst, in themselves, pamphlets, websites, social media, burgers, or verbal discussion might have their limitations, by refusing to isolate these media and understanding them as part of a complex ecology of communicative practices, the value of different tactics for polyvocal protest can become clearer. The theoretical framings of media discussed here, therefore, are not just helpful for conceptualising activist media practices, but for assessing the context-specific value of different media for communicating complex, interrelated, issues to diverse publics.

Alternative Organizations: The Case of Premium Cola  

Premium Cola are an organization without investors, offices, bosses, advertisement, fixed working hours and contracts.

Growing from a social movement committed to enjoying particular recipe of cola, a collection of avid customers morphed into a soft drinks organization.

Only selling to companies with similar values, making decisions democratically and sidestepping capitalistic imperatives of “profit above all”, Premium Cola have managed to sustain themselves over a decade and through radically different ways of organizing and working.

Nottingham University Business School and Nottingham Business School are delighted to host Miguel Martinez from the Premium Cola collective who will talk us through the history and unique ways in which cola can be made in a collective and non-hierarchical way.

Alongside Miguel will be a panel of academics and practitioners who will offer insight and commentary to the Premium Cola collective and the typical issues and possibilities facing organizations refusing hierarchy and adopting counter-capitalistic ideas.

We invite you to join us for an evening of debate, discussion and refreshments.

Thursday, 27th February, 5:30 pm-7pm 

Room C76, Business School North Building, Jubilee Campus

With:

Miguel Martinez, Premium Cola collective

Cath Muller, Radical Routes

Professor Daniel King, Nottingham Business School

Hosted by the OB/HRM division. To book your free spot or for any further information, please contact:Fabian.Maier@Nottingham.ac.uk

 

 

 

50 Years of Resistance

1968-2018: A Celebration of 50 years of Resistance, Campaigning and Alternatives for A Better World

– despite 50 years of police opposition, spying and repression

1st to 8th July:   Week of local events and activities around the UK – please organise!

Sat 7 July, 1-3pm: Roll Call / Rally: Grosvenor Sq, London W1K 2HP

Sun 8 July, 10-4pm: Conference / Exhibition: Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

In 1968, following demonstrations against the Vietnam War in London’s Grosvenor Square, the police set up a Special Demonstration Squad (SDS). Since that time, 50 years ago, over 1,000 groups campaigning in the UK for a better world have been spied on, infiltrated and targeted by political policing. Their protests and demonstrations are also subjected to ongoing police opposition and control to try to limit their effectiveness.

This targeting has included groups campaigning for equality, justice, the environment and international solidarity, for rights for women, LGBTQ, workers and for animals, for community empowerment, and those campaigning against war, racism, sexism, corporate power, legal repression and police oppression and brutality. Such groups have represented many millions of people throughout the UK who want to make the world a better, fairer and more sustainable place for everyone.

When the SDS was formed they aimed to ‘shut down’ the movements they were spying on. But despite disgusting police tactics, movements for positive change are still here and growing, and have had many successes on the way.

CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF CAMPAIGNS & STRUGGLES, RESILIENCE AND SUCCESSES

The planned events are in support of those campaigning for full exposure and effective action at the Undercover Policing Inquiry, and against police attempts to delay and undermine it. We aim to encourage more groups to find out about the Inquiry and how they can get involved and support each other, and to unite the many different groups and organisations who have been victims of our police state because of their efforts to improve society. 

 

Fossil Free Mischief Festival

We’re excited to announce:

FOSSIL FREE MISCHIEF FESTIVAL, SATURDAY JUNE 16TH 2018

Grab your hat, don your wig, bring your wickedest smile
And come challenge BP in theatrical style
Join us in June to exhibit your ire
At that loathsome, rank, endless and infinite liar…
BP!

On Saturday June 16th, we are delighted to invite you to our 50th rebel performance to kick fossil fuels out of the arts.

Join us in beautiful Stratford-upon-Avon for some serious MISCHIEF against Big Oil!

We’re bringing a festival of guerrilla theatre, disobedient poetry and rebellious music to the doorstep of the Royal Shakespeare Company, to challenge their partnership with oil giant BP. But we need your help to make it a success. Out, damned logo!

Transport from London and Oxford will be provided. If you’re interested, email info@bp-or-not-bp.org and we’ll send you more details on how to take part. Please also share this callout, and the Facebook event!

What’s this all about?

This June, as part of their annual “Mischief Festival”, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) are staging a double bill of plays about ‘freedom of speech and the right to protest’. As with all RSC plays, tickets for young people are sponsored by BP. BP is deeply complicit in the activities of repressive governments around the world who are crushing people’s freedom of speech and protest, from Egypt to Indonesia – often in ways that benefit the oil company. To add insult to injury, BP is sponsoring discount RSC tickets for 16-25 year olds – the same young people whose futures the company is actively trashing through its greenhouse gas emissions and lobbying against climate action.

Enough! No more!

On Saturday June 16th, we’re heading to Stratford-upon-Avon to hold our own “Fossil Free Mischief Festival” at the RSC’s front door, without permission. With your help, we’ll take a creative stand for clean energy and ethical arts funding, and test how committed the RSC really is to freedom of protest…

Now is the summer of our discontent! Will you join us for some serious Mischief on June 16th?

What will happen on the day?

A host of different performers will join BP or not BP? for a family-friendly day of music, theatre and spoken word – all held mischievously outside RSC venues. Think of it as an unofficial “fringe” to the RSC’s own Mischief Festival. We are working with activists from countries directly affected by BP’s operations, and will be sharing their messages and stories with the public. Some of the performances will be lively and cheeky, others will have a more solemn tone to reflect the reality of BP’s operations.

We need your help to:
Be part of the audience, enjoy the show, partake in some Shakespearean dressing-up and help hold the space.
Join us in throwing Shakespearean insults at that smiling damned villain BP.
Help us engage with theatre-goers and the public, to explain why the RSC needs to stop supporting BP and to share the stories of people fighting back against oil and gas extraction around the world.
Be part of our musical flashmob finale! No performance experience is required – email us at info@bp-or-not-bp.org to find out how to take part.
What are the exact times, and how can I get there and back?

The festival will run from 12 noon to around 6.00pm on June 16th. We’re organising cheap transport from London and Oxford – to book a place, please email us as soon as possible at info@bp-or-not-bp.org (ideally before the end of May). If you need help or advice travelling from somewhere else, please let us know that too. Stratford-upon-Avon also has a train station, which is a 15 minute walk from the theatre.

What’s the problem with BP sponsorship?

Oil companies like BP are lobbying hard to prevent meaningful climate action, while burning reserves which will put us into an unprecedented climate emergency.

Sponsoring public and cultural institutions like the RSC help BP cover up these practices, by providing them with a social licence to operate.

With their logo proudly displayed by respected partners, they present themselves as being a caring, responsible company, while committing some of the world’s worst human rights abuses and causing runaway climate change.

As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, the plays in the RSC’s Mischief Festival are about the disappearance of activists in Mexico and the imprisonment of journalists in Turkey – both countries where BP’s operations have faced serious criticism. The oil company recently signed a major new offshore drilling contract with the repressive Mexican government, while in Turkey a massive BP-backed pipeline has been linked to serious human rights abuses. It’s time the RSC stopped covering up BP’s bad behaviour.

Who’s organising this?

We are BP or not BP? – a troupe of theatrical actor-vists.

We formed in 2012 to oppose BP’s sponsorship of the Royal Shakespeare Company with a series of Shakespeare-themed stage invasions.

We now create pop-up performances in a range of fossil fuel sponsored spaces, including the RSC, British Museum, National Portrait Gallery and Royal Opera House. We will not rest until these cultural institutions are freed from the beastly grip of that puke-stocking BP!

50 Years of Resistance – Conference & Exhibition

As part of the 50 Years of Resistance celebrations, there will be a conference and exhibition at Conway Hall in London.

In March 1968, the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square was the focus of a demonstration against the Vietnam War. The police response to it led to the formation of the Metropolitan Police’s undercover political unit, the Special Demonstration Squad.

When the SDS was formed they aimed to ‘shut down’ the movements they were spying on. But despite fifty years of disgusting police tactics, the movements for positive change are still here and growing, and have had many successes on the way which will be listed in this roll call.

The events planned for the week are in support of those campaigning for full exposure and effective action at the Undercover Policing Inquiry, and against police attempts to delay and undermine it.

We aim to encourage more groups to find out about the Inquiry and how they can get involved and support each other, and to unite the many different groups and organisations who have been victims of our police state because of their efforts to improve society. 

Check back here for more details nearer the time.

50 Years of Resistance – Roll Call of Resistance

As part of the 50 Years of Resistance celebrations, there will be a roll call and rally in Grosvenor Square.

In March 1968, the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square was the focus of a demonstration against the Vietnam War. The police response to it led to the formation of the Metropolitan Police’s undercover political unit, the Special Demonstration Squad.

When the SDS was formed they aimed to ‘shut down’ the movements they were spying on. But despite fifty years of disgusting police tactics, the movements for positive change are still here and growing, and have had many successes on the way which will be listed in this roll call.

The events planned for the week are in support of those campaigning for full exposure and effective action at the Undercover Policing Inquiry, and against police attempts to delay and undermine it.

We aim to encourage more groups to find out about the Inquiry and how they can get involved and support each other, and to unite the many different groups and organisations who have been victims of our police state because of their efforts to improve society. 

Check back here for more details nearer the time.

Notts Gig4Grenfell 2!

Line up (more and times to be confirmed)

Jack’s Got A Plan
Ashmore
Capital Calling
Mizzred and James Malavi
Benjamin Hibbert and Chai Larden
K-Harmony
Parisa East

 

Nottingham Renters Alliance and Notts Activist Wellness are hosting a duo of fundraisers very soon.

We are happy to announce we are having another Gig4Grenfell on Sunday February 11th and a new event Poetry4Grenfell on Sunday March 11th, both at The Maze on Mansfield Road.

The events will run 6pm-11pm, with a suggested donation of £5 for entry. The space is wheelchair accessible from the back door so let us know in advance if you need it. It’s 16+ but under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.

There will be vegan food by Yemoja Foods in the courtyard and vegan cake by Alistair Johnson of Queens in Mansfield.

All money raised from both of these events will go directly to grassroots organisers at Grenfell with an emphasis on families, asylum seekers, refugees and those not getting support from other organisations or groups. We are hoping that the money can be used to provide basic necessities as well as to offer therapy and self-care support to those affected by the devastating tragedy.

Our line ups will include a variety of different, mostly local, performers, all of whom are incredibly talented and with established fan bases.

If you would like to support these events, donate any money or are wanting to perform please contact Eshe Kiama Zuri on Facebook.

Surround Yarls Wood

SAVE THE DATE!

Start organising coaches, including possible coach from Nottingham, with possible #FoodByVeggies!

SHUT DOWN YARLSWOOD AND ALL DETENTION CENTRES!

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