I spent Sunday morning in Southend-on-Sea at the Occupy National Conference. I was there running a short (2 hour) nonviolent direct action (NVDA) workshop, as well as getting a feel for this particular moment in Occupy UK. Whilst you can’t satisfy everyone in every workshop, the energy, engagement, and conversation afterwards spoke to a decent […]
It’s been a funny few months in terms of feedback on training I’ve been involved in facilitating. In February myself and a co-facilitator received one of the most affirming pieces of feedback I’ve ever received. To paraphrase we were told that we didn’t teach the group anything, but they learnt loads. Music to the ears […]
The UK government lurches from crisis to crisis. They announce a policy initiative. There’s an immediate and fierce backlash. And then they fudge something to avoid too much humiliation whilst letting the powers that be go about business as usual. Hardly what I’d describe as ‘government’. However on one level I like the aspect of […]
The destructive power of hope? The futility of environmentalism? Sustainability as preserving the world we know, a “project designed to keep this culture — this lifestyle — afloat”? Dave Pollard’s latest post Giving Up on Environmentalism over at how to save the world, in which he extensively quotes Paul Kingsnorth is a challenging read, but well, […]
The 99% Spring has started. From 9th to 15th of April, US activists will: “gather across America, 100,000 strong, in homes, places of worship, campuses and the streets to train ourselves in non-violent action and join together in the work of reclaiming our country.” http://the99spring.com So what about here in the UK? What if you’re […]
Rhizome is two years old! This year has been the year of cuts, Occupy, the Dale Farm eviction, riots in the streets of several UK cities and so much more,an interesting year to be doing the work we do. The biggest development in our second year as Rhizome was our expansion from just 2 to […]
I noticed a link coming into the Rhizome blog from another blog talking about the recent UK census and resistance to it. The author and some of the folk they quote liken the tactic of messing up the form to ensure it had to be read by a person rather than a machine and generally […]
DEALING WITH POWER Anti-oppression training and large-group work An advanced training for trainers with George Lakey, Manchester, UK. 20-22 July 2012 Legendary US activist trainer George Lakey is making a rare visit to the UK, where he helped to train a generation of nonviolence trainers in 1970. As well as increasing the number of training […]
A few weeks ago I was talking to activist and organiser friends about the National Health Service “reforms”. We talked about what civil disobedience might look like for healthcare professionals and others working for the NHS. Given that even then it looked likely the government’s bill would be passed, we talked about how an individual […]
The UK government has plans to extend its powers over email surveillance. According to Big Brother Watch: In an unprecedented step that will see Britain adopt the same kind of surveillance as China and Iran, police and intelligence officers are to be handed powers to monitor people’s messages online. Now plenty of other, better informed […]
