Edgeryders assemble!
I’ve not been involved as much as I’d like in this essential community for the last couple of years (mainly because of other work, including a PhD) but I’m working on a project which may interest some of you, and I’m open and interested in it having Edgeryders involvement.
I’m based in Glasgow, Scotland: as some of you may know, Scotland voted strongly (62%) to remain in the EU, and the Scottish Parliament has triggered a Section 30 order for a referendum for independence from the UK (following the 2014 independence referendum, which resulted in a vote to remain in the UK: I was campaigning for an independence vote, for reasons listed here: Liminal Scotland: reflections on Scottish independence | Luke Devlin
In this mess, we are running the below event. We have secured funding from Bella Caledonia’s Active Response fund (information here Active Response – Bella Caledonia ) and I have had a brief correspondence with @Alberto and @Nadia about possible Edgeryders involvement.
I would like to invite Edgeryders to work with us on this. See below for details and initial thoughts. All comments, remarks, suggestions, questions very welcome.
UNBREXABLE: CONNECTIONS AND CARING IN EUROPEAN SCOTLAND
Overview
In the post-Article 50 period of political upheaval and uncertainty, actively forging and nurturing connections between communities and social movements is essential, both within Scotland and across the rest of Europe. In doing so, we affirm our status as part of the European community of nations, and explore the alternatives to a neoliberal and British nationalist hard Brexit.
Unbrexable is an active response revolving around supporting and strengthening the kinds of emotional connections and caring- and grassroots European solidarity- which are too often left out of political debates. Human-scale intimacy and relationships have been diminished in current political and mainstream media discourse, with European Scots reduced to ‘bargaining chips’ with uncertain futures instead of valued and loved citizens with a right to belong. It has led to a coarsening of debate, and an understanding that we can no longer take for granted the kind of inclusive welcoming European Scotland we desire and voted for: we have to actively co-create it.
In this series, we offer a place for reflection, analysis and action, with an emphasis on effective collaboration and hospitality. From our base in the diverse community of Govan, Glasgow, we will carry out a series of roundtables, cultural happenings, and a one-day conference. All events will be documented by video or audio outputs and blogposts which will be disseminated. This will ensure a) each session is summarised and shared, and b) European Scots (those who hosted/ spoke or performed at roundtables or cultural events and conference) are invited to reflect on what connections and caring mean to them in a European Scotland today. The desired outcomes will be not only the events and an archive of digital resources documenting the activity, but an increased sense of care and connection, and an understanding of possible ways to effectively move forward, for the participants and attendees.
The series will have a strong emphasis on being led by European and other migrant Scots, especially those marginalised and most affected by Brexit: ‘nothing about us without us is for us’.
Events/Timeline
May-July 2017
- three roundtable discussions led by European Scots or colleagues from elsewhere in Europe offering valuable and unique insight into our current situation
- two cultural happenings/ arts workshops with or by European Scots, curated to reflect intercultural connections between societies and bioregions in Europe and celebrate the encounters between European traditions of art and music
August 2017
A one-day conference “Unbrexable: Connections & Caring in European Scotland” held at the Pearce Institute in Govan. Taking a transdisciplinary approach, conference programming will invite explorations of:
- Scotland as our common home: nurturing friendship and community for all
- historical and cultural perspectives on European Scotland
- the role of citizen diplomacy, constitutional crowdsourcing and peer-to-peer networking and the Internet of Agreements in bypassing Brexit to maintain Scotland in Europe
- the promises and perils of Article 50 and a second independence referendum
- strengthening pan-European movements to challenge neoliberal European governance and build alternatives that foster social and ecological justice (for example, Degrowth, basic income, feminism and co-operative economics)
- how to build migrant solidarity and resist nativist populism and the far-right in Scotland
Centre for Human Ecology (CHE) info@che.ac.uk www.che.ac.uk
Founded in 1972 and based in Govan, Glasgow, the CHE is an independent educational charity committed to radical transformative education and action for social and ecological justice. The centre has had long-standing connections with international academics and social, ecological and creative practitioners, while remaining strongly rooted in the community of Govan through community education in the form of roundtables, talks and creative partnership events to promote and provide education and research in the generalist tradition of the Scottish democratic intellect.