Here is an interesting post from elsewhere on the vacuum of politics in most of the NGO sector in the UK. It suggests that part of the reason for this is that they have allowed themselves to be contracted by the state, becoming part of the outsourcing industry. http://www.independentaction.net/2013/07/16/state-of-the-voluntary-services-sector-bob-baker-writes/ However this can’t be the whole…
Month: July 2013
Attacks on organisations criticising Pacific Rubiales in Colombia
I did some work in Colombia with REDHER, a network of social organisations, and yesterday discovered that on Saturday (20th July) their office was broken into and computers and other equipment stolen. This appears to be part of a campaign of retaliation and intimidation in response to a Juicio Etico – a people’s tribunal –…
Bringing anarchy to NGOs
Or somewhat more democratic and inclusive forms of organising anyway – this article is interesting: Carne Ross: our forms must reflect our fundamental political values I’ve thought a fair bit about the prospects for making NGOs more cooperative. Campaigning NGOs could have much more of a two way decision-making process with their donors and supporters….
Risking everything for peace: Colombia’s bloodied left re-emerges – Part 2
So who are the re-emerging Colombian left? I met my companions in this small Casanare village at a meeting in Bogotá organized by the group ‘Congreso de los Pueblos’, or People’s Congress. That meeting attracted 15,000 attendees from all over Colombia, mostly from rural areas, many campesinos and indigenous people, but also students groups, women’s…
Risking everything for peace: Colombia’s bloodied left re-emerges – Part 1
As night falls over a meeting of student and youth organisations in eastern Colombia, the shadows over the peace process between the government and guerrilla groups become eerily literal. We are in a village in Casanare department, in the east of Colombia, far from the nearest mobile phone signal. As darkness closes in around us,…
Getting organising moving and keeping it moving – some ideas
Very interesting blog post from Aaron Peters of Novara Media: This short piece intends to outline what kinds of organisation are optimal in this context and how they would emphasize the strengthening and broadening of a currently weak social movement ‘base’. Examples of currently existing organisations that perform similar roles will be given. This is…
Radical street organisation in Turkey
I was pleased to read these blogs about organising in Turkey. A few quotes sum up what I liked: #Solidarity – a letter: What pleasantly surprises me is that the Turks are not repeating the errors of the Spanish indignados or the Occupy movement. In almost all of the Spanish occupations, decisions were taken by…