By Anthony Barnett
The Social Change Exchange, held on 11 October in Birmingham, England’s second city which Jessica Reed blogged yesterday, was called by Britain’s Network for Social Change. This is a grouping of around a hundred progressive minded individuals who have joined forces to give modest financial support to practical causes that are making the world a better place - or trying to.
After a delicious, Indian vegetarian lunch and before the afternoon session the Ethical Property Foundation launched its guide to the UK’s social change movement, ‘be the change!’ . It is an attempt to list all the social change groups working in the UK today. It does so under seven headings: the environment; globalisation; overseas development; peace; refugees and minority issues; rights; UK poverty.
Can it be coincidence that actionsspeaklouder was launched the next day, a cool, economical site designed to provide links to local action across the UK. Want to do something? Put in your postcode, the British equivalent of the zip code, and find out whose making waves in your neighbourhood – I discovered that there are three local No2ID groups (the organisation opposing the UK government’s plan to introduce ID cards into Britain) within 1.2 miles!
Actions Speak Louder has six headings for the activities it seeks to network locally: anti-poverty; arms; civil liberties; economic justice; environment; women’s rights. It does not have globalisation or immigration/race as stated categories, although the latter may come under civil liberties. But ‘be the change!’ does not have women issues, an extraordinary ommission.
Neither have democracy as a heading nor the media, both of which we looked for from the point of view of openDemocracy. At Birmingham when told that we are an independent, open, global website on current affairs that believes in human rights and democracy, people would say “But what do you actually do?”. To which my answer is, “We are the solution to the problem of the media”. This usually elicits a sigh of recognition, “Ah yes, the media”.
(Declaration of interest: so far openDemocracy has not got backing from the Network, but we have approached them.)
