WHEN?
This event will take place from 6pm – 8.00pm on the 9th of December 2021.
WHERE?
Govan Free State space @ GalGael + Online over Zoom. We have a limited number of spaces to meet in-person, so please book yours soon if you wish to join us that way. If you don’t manage to get one, send us an email at peoplesplanglasgow@gmail.com, and we’ll put you on the waiting list for in-person spaces.
WHAT?
This event is an information and briefing session, particularly for those who think they want to help us organise and deliver this. Register for the event here!
In this session you will:
– Hear more about the People’s Plan and the process that got us here
– Hear more about the specific economic context for Glasgow
– Learn more about People’s Assemblies
– Hear about proposals to develop People Assemblies in Glasgow and the plan for a People’s Economy Assembly
– Find out how to get started with making this happen.
BACKGROUND
Under the heading of a People’s Plan for Glasgow, a group of organisations and individuals are seeking to work with all who are directly challenging the neo-liberal direction of policy in Glasgow. We aim to solidify a credible opposition to such policies and offer an alternative vision for the city. In Feb 2021, a People’s Plan week brought together over 100 people to explore common issues and alternative ideas. Building on this event, and after some twists and turns, our next step is to establish the Glasgow People’s Assembly on Reclaiming our Economy – and we want you to help make it happen!
WHY
Glasgow is the fifth most indebted city in the UK. Overly focused on retail, tourism and property development (which are now failing) – austerity and cuts in services continue to bite. Skewed by the City Deal, large companies continue to be prioritised over local suppliers. As climate breakdown accelerates, Glasgow City Council plans to spend billions on private sector responses which previously have created little lasting benefit for people here. The decisions made over the coming months and years will set a direction for Glasgow from which it will be hard to return. We are at risk of losing what gives our city its heart, and experience suggests that many in our city will continue to be failed.
Electoral politics offers limited scope for radical change and is deeply unrepresentative in Glasgow. Possilpark had election turnout as low as 19% in the 2017 local election. The way local government works – and how it consults with communities – severely limits the options on the table and the extent to which local people’s voices actually get heard. We need meaningful democratic participation that enables deeper reflection, real collaboration and radical change, and we need economic democracy. We aren’t going to achieve these, on our terms, unless we create them for ourselves.
We can achieve another Glasgow. There are so many alternatives for how our economy could work – from reclaiming the commons to community wealth building. It is essential we not only offer alternative visions but enable people to reclaim the power to make it happen. Glasgow has a wealth of creativity, brilliance and people passionate about their city. Actions owned by the people can unlock our potential and instead of bowing to the ‘inevitability’ of a broken and sterile corporate vision of our future.
PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLIES
People’s Assemblies are forms of direct democracy where people come together to explore issues and, critically, agree to take action together and have transformed cities like Barcelona and Athens in recent years. Issues are explored collectively, proposals are surfaced, and everyone decides on the priority actions to undertake. More than a one-off or series of events, they can be a process to support ongoing collective action with the potential to create an enduring alternative power base for all communities, away from the Council, and in relation to it.
GLASGOW’S PEOPLE’S ECONOMY ASSEMBLY
As pressure comes to bear from the end of the furlough scheme, rising fuel prices and cuts to universal credit uplift, we believe a a Peoples Assembly could make a vital contribution towards identifying and implementing ways we can make the economy work for the people who live here. We fundamentally believe that in reclaiming agency and working together we can enable the needs of people and communities to be met in just, dignified and sustainable ways – the foundation of an economy based on care and solidarity.
An Assembly process offers the potential to bring together interested groups and campaigns, as well as being open to anyone who calls Glasgow their home. Potential outcomes could be new initiatives strengthening existing alternatives and kicking off new ones, more coordinated work across existing groups, as well as development of campaigns/responses including mass action (protest), direct action, divestment, boycott, non-compliance and policy shift campaigns.
We hope to hear from you or see you there!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.