By Colin Miller & Matter Scott In his New Year speech Keir Starmer said that in its first year in power a Labour government would
A recording of a Labour Party Conference panel discussion with Deeper Democracy member Colin Miller, with Steve Reed MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government), Anna Randle (Chief Executive of Collaborate, Darren Rodwell (Leader of Barking and Dagenham council) and Hannah O’Rourke (Labour Together),
‘Tomorrows Communities: Lessons for Community Based Transformation in the Age of Global Crises’.
Deeper Democracy members Henry Tam, Gabriel Chanan, Diane Warburton and Colin Miller, are delighted to be involved in contributing to this important and wide ranging new book.
Many argue that the only chance of there being a Labour led government after the next elections is via a ‘progressive alliance’. An agreement between Labour, Liberal democrats and the ‘progressive nationalist’ SNP and Plaid Cymru. Is this democratically desirable? If it is would be be possible to create one and what form would it take?
Brighton and Hove Compass have launched a campaign to Build Back Better in the City and we are seeking signatures from residents and people who work in the City. While terrible, the Covid-19 crisis provides an opportunity to create a new and better ‘normal’ – and we think Brighton and Hove is the ideal place to set this in motion as we face an uncertain future.
A brief outline by members of the Deeper Democracy Group of a series of proposals that the government urgently needs to adopt to support communities during this time of crises and beyond.
Will Community Engagement Be the Greatest Positive To Come Out of This Pandemic? Nick Beddow, a member of our Deeper Democracy Group, talks to Chris
Today we proudly launch our new pamphlet ‘Participation at 45 degrees: techniques for citizen-led change’.
We argue that we urgently need to create a more participatory and deliberative democracy and explore the role of participatory practice in supporting the change.
Our democratic system is in crisis. Many people blame Brexit, but the problems have been long in the making. Too many people and communities feel
Rojava is under attack by the Turkish Government. This is a brief background to Rojava and the Kurdish people.
What does ‘will of the people’ actually mean? Here are some numbers about the EU referendum and why, on their own, plebiscites are not a good way of involving citizens in important decision.
In late April the European Movement organised a festival of democracy (Democracy Alive) on the central square of Dan Burg on the island of Texel
Bob Rhodes and Ralph Broad argue that social work and social care should return to the thinking set out in the Barclay report and renew their commitment to community.
https://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/library/by-az/revisiting-barclay.html
Democracy is under threat, our current laissez faire approach is leading to social fragmentation and polarisation. A communities’ capacity for democratic decision-making is inescapably linked to the extent to which their members can learn, reflect on, and exchange ideas in an objective manner. ‘Communities should have more quality-assured deliberative events that will empower them to select public policies and representatives’
A core founding principle both of community development and community organising is the commitment to help empower communities through collective and participative action and practice.
Most people will know about the Kurdish women’s militias that played such a key role in fighting ISIS, most are from Rojava, here’s what one
The latest issue of Red Pepper (June/July 2018) is well worth checking out for anyone interested in issues related to local government, democracy and the
Community Development Practitioner Matt Scott argues that:
1. democracy needs closer definition
2. to meet the challenges presented by technology we need to move from our existing. Victorian based systems
3. democracy is about community development, where local ties and collective action need to come to the fore in order for democracy to haver all meaning in peoples lives
If and when Labour comes to power, immediately set up three parallel streams of fully-funded trials of deeper democratic engagement around localities around local areas
Compass the well know progressive organisation that played a key role in creating the ‘Progressive Alliance’, that was so dominant in the 2017 general election, will