From anti-neoliberal protests around globalisation through to the Occupy movement, environmental direct action and mass anti-austerity demonstrations, there has been an explosion of grassroots activism that has moved in tandem with the wave of crises facing western-driven free market capitalism since 2008.
From anti-neoliberal protests around globalisation through to the Occupy movement, environmental direct action and mass anti-austerity demonstrations, there has been an explosion of grassroots activism that has moved in tandem with the wave of crises facing western-driven free market capitalism since 2008.
However, it would be a mistake simply to think of these initiatives as copying the waves of protest we saw in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Both the form and content has changed.
Author, journalist and broadcaster Paul Mason, known for his work with the BBC and elsewhere, will outline ways in which technology has enabled global protest movements in his contribution to the International Festival in Edinburgh on Monday 12th August 2013.
Mason will also ask how the old political models of ruling and resisting are being undermined, and what the new paradigms embody and portend. The one hour presentation and Q and A, chaired by Professor William Sweeney, takes place between 5 and 6pm at the Hub, a magnificent Gothic building situated at the top of the Royal Mile.
This event is sponsored by the University and College Union Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Entertainment Unions, Edinburgh Trades Union Council, and the National Union of Journalists Edinburgh Branches. Tickets are £5.
* Booking: http://www.eif.co.uk/interfaces/newunrest
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(c) Simon Barrow is co-director of Ekklesia. He also represents the National Union of Journalists’ Edinburgh Freelance Branch on Edinburgh TUC.