People

OurKingdom is an editorial project run by openDemocracy, a global web magazine based in London.

Co-Editors:

Anthony Barnett

A social entrepreneur of wide experience, Anthony helped launch Charter 88 in 1988 and was its first Director. Anthony is also a writer and journalist. He is the author of Iron Britannia; Soviet Freedom and This Time; and co-author and editor of among other books, Aftermath: the Struggle of Vietnam and Cambodia; Power and the Throne, Town and Country and a considerable range of articles and pamphlets covering politics and culture, such as (with Peter Carty), The Athenian Option – radical reform for the House of Lords (Demos, 1998) and the television film, England's Henry Moore. He founded openDemocracy, and regularly contributes to many of its debates.

Guy Aitchison

Born and raised in Bristol, Guy was drawn to the politics of OurKingdom through a background in History and Political Theory. Guy was Deputy Director of The Convention on Modern Liberty and has worked on the Power2010 campaign for democratic renewal. He is now a PhD candidate in politics at UCL.

Niki Seth-Smith

Having begun her career on cultural publications, including The London Magazine, Niki then moved to Kolkata, India, where she worked as a sub-editor for The Statesman. On her return to the UK, she qualified as a news journalist. She currently works full-time for OurKingdom.

Clare Sambrook

Novelist, journalist, and pro-bono co-ordinator of End Child Detention Now, Clare is also winner of the 2010 Paul Foot Award and the Bevins Prize for outstanding investigative journalism.

Associate Editors:

Tom Griffin

Holds a BA in Politics and Philosophy and an MA in Political Theory from the University of Essex. He is a former executive editor of the Irish World newspaper and author of the Green Ribbon political blog. He is currently undertaking a PhD on neoconservatism in Europe at the University of Strathclyde.

Stuart Weir

Founder of Democratic Audit at the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, and co-founder of Charter 88.

Ryan Gallagher

Freelance journalist based in London.

Michael Gardiner

Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at The University of Warwick and author of fiction and non-fiction.

Oliver Huitson

Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal

Editor of openSecurity, openDemocracy's security coverage section.

Aaron Peters, Editor of "Networked Society"

A PhD candidate at Royal Holloway, University of London investigating the changing nature of social movements and political contention in the 'Network Society'. Aaron is also a student activist and co-editor of Fight Back! A Reader on the Winter of Protest.

William Davies, Editor of "Happiness Debate"

A sociologist at the Institute for Science Innovation and Society and a Fellow at The Young Foundation. His weblog is at www.potlatch.org.uk.

Dan Hind, Editor of "Power and the Media"

Author of The Return of the Public, Dan was a publisher for ten years before his gradual realisation that the current structure of decision-making in the media needs to be substantially reformed in the ways he describes in the book. In 2009 he left the industry to develop a program of media reform centred around public commissioning. His first book,The Threat to Reason, was published by Verso in 2007.

Des Freedman and Michael Bailey, Editors of "Capitalism and the University"

Des Freedman and Michael Bailey are co-authors of the forthcoming book The Assault on Universities, A Manifesto for Resistance.

Des teaches media and communication at Goldsmiths College, London. He is co-editor with Daya Thussu of a collection of essays on communicating conflict, War and the Media (Sage, 2003), which features contributions by leading academics as well as journalists.

Michael is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Essex. He is the author or editor of The Uses of Richard Hoggart (2011), Mediating Faiths (2011) and Narrating Media History (2008). He has held visiting fellowships at Goldsmiths, the LSE and at the University of Cambridge.

Interns:

Hilary Aked

Hilary is working as an OurKingdom intern and editing the Dictionary of Ethical Politics. She has previously been London Student editor, a media co-ordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and worked on Amnesty International UK's Amnesty TV. She studied English Literature and Development Studies.

Andrew Blick - London, The Democratic Audit

James Graham - London, Unlock Democracy

John Jackson - London, Charter 88

John Osmond - Cardiff, IWA

Mike Small - Fife, Bella Caledonia

Stuart Weir - Cambridge, The Democratic Audit

Saul Albert - London, The People Speak

Neal Ascherson - Argyll

Simon Barrow - London, Ekklesia

Ron Bailey - London, Local Works

Mark Bell - London, CentreForum

Mark Bell - Brighton, votewise.co.uk