The World Transformed: A Radical Agenda for Democracy

“The greatest inequality is inequality of power”

Jon Trickett and Paul Mason will open the workshop with a discussion on the ongoing centralisation of power in the UK and the impact this concentration has on the political, economic and social structures, institutions and outcomes.

We will then hear from campaigners and movements who are trying create a democracy from the bottom up, both in the UK and abroad before running a deliberative workshop exploring how such a movement can be supported and developed by Labour.

Speakers :
Jon Trickett MP: Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office – Jon is MP for Hemsworth in Yorkshire. Jon argues that inequality is entrenched in the structures and institutions of the British State. He is leading Labour in exploring those concentrations of power and has recently spoken about the regional inequalities and alienation these imbalances cause.

Paul Mason: writer, author and film-maker. As economics editor at Newsnight, then Channel 4 News he covered the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and the Gaza war. His bestselling book Postcapitalism has been translated into 16 languages. His play Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere was televised on BBC Two in 2017.

Kate Shea Baird: a member of the executive of Barcelona En Comú, the municipalist platform currently governing Barcelona City Hall. She joined the platform shortly after its launch in 2014 and has been active in its Communication and International Committees, working on mapping and building up the emerging network of municipalist movements from around the world.

Nancy Platts: is a Labour Councillor in Brighton and was the former Trade Union Liaison Officer in Jeremy Corbyn’s Office. She now heads up ‘Politics for the Many ‘ Trade Unionist for political reform. She has written and spoken extensively about how parliament skews power towards the interests of the few and against the benefit of working people and their organisations .

Alice Kinghorn Grey- Chair : is a Campaign Organiser for Electoral Reform Society, Scotland. She has organised ‘ Act as if you own the place ‘ A campaign led by a coalition of organisations for Scottish Town and Villages to take back power over their own affairs. The campaign has significantly influenced the new Bill on Local Democracy due to come out from the Scottish Government next year. After graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies where she developed an interest in Marxist and critical State theory, she moved back to Scotland and advances relations between the municipalist movements across Spain and Scotland.

Jonathan Shafi: Is Campaigns Manager with ‘Common Weal’ the crowd-funded think-tank that aims to make ‘all of us first‘. A member of the Coalition behind ‘Act as if you own the place ‘ . Recently he was a lead organiser behind the Anti-Trump protests in Scotland and a large conference on Local Democracy. He was a founder and coordinator of the Radical Independence Congress a coalition that aimed to ensure a possible independent Scotland would hear strong socialist arguments. He has a column in the Sunday Herald where he writes on national and international politics.

Sunday, 23rd of September,
13:00 – 14:30
Black E, Main Space