The shocking scenes of the MET’s violent response to those seeking to mark and protest the death of Sarah Everard made visible the kind of state violence that has been meted out to communities since the force’s inception.  

This week, the government plan to rush through parliament a significant increase in  police powers over public demonstration. The recently published Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is full scale assault on our civil liberties, threatening our rights to protest even further, expanding stop and search powers, and further criminalising traveller communities.

Join us to better understand its implications, hear from those being targeted by the bill, and discuss our options for resistance. 

With:

Shami Chakrabarti - Barrister, human rights activist & former director of Liberty

Zehrah Hasan - Barrister, founding member and Director of Black Protest Legal Support

Becka Hudson – Organiser and researcher on prison, psychiatry and empire

Luke Smith – Co-founder, Labour for Gypsy, Roma & Traveller communities

Chantelle Lunt – Founder Merseyside Black Lives Matter Alliance

Ali Brumfitt – Organiser  with Global Justice Bloc

Whose streets? Understanding the government’s assault on our rights

In 2020, writer Owen Hatherley published two books about London. One, Red Metropolis was a polemical history of municipal socialism in Britain's capital. The other, was an alternative guide to London's boroughs featuring 33 activists, historians, architects and politicians exploring stories and neighbourhoods from across each of the city's 33 boroughs.

The alternative guide, which was commissioned by Open City, a charity best known for its London-wide festival of remarkable architecture Open House, attempts to unpick the social and political dimensions of London's built fabric while taking the reader on an adventurous journey encompassing everything from Brutalist Polish community centres to suburban garden cities, from pioneering modernist estates to ornate Victorian greenhouses.

In this special event, Owen is joined by Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty, who wrote the alternative guide's chapter on the London borough of Haringey, and graphic designer Rosa Nussbaum to discuss contemporary London following the mayoral election, property development in Haringey and beyond, and wider themes of both books.

The Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs is available from the Open City online shop. Anyone who would like to get hold of a copy before this event can use the one-off discount code THEWORLDTRANSFORMED to get 40% off the cover price.

The event will be introduced by Phineas Harper, architecture writer and director of Open City who commissioned the Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs and compered by Sam Swann from The World Transformed.

Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs with Owen Hatherley,  Aditya Chakrabortty & Rosa Nussbaum

A discussion of a new report from Common Wealth looking at the economic gap between private and state schools across England.

The report by Dr Sol Gamsu shows how English private schools receive four times as much money per pupil as local state secondary. In some schools this figure is much higher with the wealthiest schools in the South of England having 8,9,10 times the income of local state secondary schools.

Is a system where some schools have tens of thousands of pounds to spend per pupil justifiable?

With: Dr Sol Gamsu (Durham University) // Professor Rebecca Boden (Tampere University) // Steven Longden (Abolish Eton).

You can read the full report here: https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/why-are-some-children-worth-more-than-others

Why Are Some Children Worth More? Report launch with Sol Gamsu and Common Wealth

Grenfell must be a 'never again' moment in the history of this country. The fire has exposed incestuous relationships between local, as well as national government, and the construction industry. In or out of government, how can Labour effectively engage with this issue, beyond superficial lip service? How can Labour act now to put the party at the disposal of a horrified and haunted community forced to campaign through their trauma for the safety of all across the country?

Come and hear from those who have spent the last two years fighting tooth and nail for a justice which may never come.

With Speakers:
Lowkey; A poet, playwright, political activist and award winning hip-hop artist.

Karim: The Vice-Chair of Grenfell United, the official organisation of survivors and bereaved families of the Grenfell Tower fire, working together to campaign for safe homes, justice and change.

Reis Morris: A local activist and former resident of the Grenfell Tower.

Zeyad: An organizer of the Grenfell Tower Silent Walk - an annual walk organised by Grenfell United to remember the Grenfell Tower fire.

Daniel Renwick: A videographer and writer who made Failed By The State - the struggle in the shadow of Grenfell. He is a youth worker and advocate in the local community

Like a phoenix we will rise: Activism after Grenfell with Lowkey

Introducing "Understanding TWT" - a series on the ideas and concepts that have inspired our work. 

First up, a presentation on the role of 'affect' (bodily emotion) in political practice, what we mean by 'collective joy', why these are essential for building a mass political movement, and how TWT has and can continue to embed this thinking in its work.

Political theorist, DJ and long time contributor to (and supporter of) TWT Jeremy Gilbert leads the event with a talk on these themes.

Understanding TWT: Collective Joy with Jeremy Gilbert

In this week's episode of Understanding TWT, we spoke to Red Pepper co-editor and co-founder Hilary Wainwright.

Hilary spoke to us about the history of the ‘new left’ from the Hungarian revolution of 1956, how the Soviet Union’s domination of its bordering countries led many socialists to re-evaluate their understanding of Marx and relationship to the party and state, how TWT fits into and is informed by that history, and how the ideas of the new left continue to develop and change today.

Understanding TWT: The New Left with Hilary Wainwright

For people today, hard work in school no longer guarantees a secure, well-paying job in the future. Far from a gateway to riches and fulfilment, 'work' means precarity, anxiety and alienation. In response, we've seen increased demand from the left for workers to join a union.

But what can workers achieve when they unionise their workplace and rally around a set of demands?

How does the emergence of the gig economy, 0 hours contracts and bogus self employment change the nature of workplace organising?

And can union organising move beyond winning small victories in workplaces to the wholesale transformation of work itself?

Amelia Horgan is a writer and researcher. She has written for various publications, including Tribune, the Guardian and VICE.

Lois McCallum is a hospitality worker and trade union rep, speaking on behalf of Sheffield Needs a Payrise, a campaign organising workers to fight back against low pay – and offering an alternative to the dismal working conditions that plague post-industrial Britain.

Tam Wilson works for the STUC (Scottish Trades Union Congress) as an organiser with the BetterThanZero campaign, a Scottish based trade union campaign that focusses on supporting those in precarious and casualised work to collectivise in their workplace and challenge exploitative employment practices.

Sarah Jaffe (chair) is a US based labour journalist, and author of 'Work Won't Love You Back'.

Book launch! Lost in Work by Amelia Horgan

Week 2 advance watching for TWT's "Know Your Enemy" course. Gargi Bhattacharyya and Tom Mills discuss: 

- Who are the elite in this country?
- How should we understand the state?
- What is corporate power? How does it relate to other forms of power? 
- What techniques of power analysis might be useful to us?

Know Your Enemy -  Week 2 with Gargi Bhattacharyya and Tom Mills

Week 3 of The World Transformed's "Know Your Enemy" course.

In this interview, Gargi Bhattacharya talks to Sita Balani about how the right is changing today, starting with Stuart Hall’s essay The Great Moving Right Show on the emergence of Thatcherism and tracing the current terrain with “Johnsonism”, the new authoritarianism and the differences between how elite interests are served now and how they have historically been served under neoliberalism.

Know Your Enemy - Week 3 with Gargi Bhattacharyya & Sita Balani

Week 4 advance viewing for TWT's "Know Your Enemy" course. 

In this session, Gargi and Richard Seymour discuss: 

- In what way are the Tories trying to recompose the state? Is the party a unified actor?
- Does the Ruling Class really rule? And if so, how do they do it?
- Does Nationalism serve to build an alliance of the different parts of the right in Britain?
- Why is it that many ostensibly 'Working Class' voters in Britain still vote for the right?
- Is the idea of a Labour-voting 'Red Wall' in the North helpful? Or is it more complex than that?
- How should we characterise the coalition we are seeing now between Capital and the Electoral Right?

Know Your Enemy Week 4 - Gargi Bhattacharyya and Richard Seymour

How to live?
In the face of the unfolding chaos of climate change, how are we to live?
Three Sisters: The End of the Project is an audio play from the future. Set in four acts between 2035 and 2038, the play explores how it is that we may live in the coming world of storms and restrictions. It imagines a future close enough to be real. Looking unflinchingly at what might change and what might not. It conveys the life of human hearts in a Britain that has been dramatically altered.

The very act of trying to look ahead to discern possibilities and offer warnings is in itself an act of hope. - Octavia Butler

Three Sisters: The End of the Project is co-created by James Marriott and Lena Šimić, and produced by Platform. This speculative theatre builds on Anton Chekhov’s classic play, taking us deep into questions of how might a transition unfold. It is an enthralling audio drama driven by a powerful cast of 11 professional actors. Previewing at The World Transformed 2022, it is available as podcasts on the festival FM podcast site and presented with a live panel discussion on Sunday 25th September 2.15pm – 3.30pm

For a fuller immersive experience of the audio play, you are encouraged to listen to the four acts in a 24-hour period, echoing the way it was recorded at
Kirkonnell House at the banks of the River Nith in South West Scotland. Act 1 at midday, Act 2 at around 8pm in the evening, Act 3 in the middle of the night, at 3am and finally Act 4 at midday again.

Characters and Cast
OLIVIA Gregory Cleary (38) Oldest sister, remote school teacher – from London
Elyssa Livergant
MIA Gregory Cullen (35) Middle sister, a pianist, in civil partnership with TED, in love with ALEX – from London
Kim Allan
ERIN Gregory Cleary (29) Youngest sister, gender queer, searching for a perfect job and love – from London
Laura Lake Adebisi
ANDREW Gregory Cleary (40) Brother of three sisters, works for Bioregional Council, married to CHLOE – from London
Philip Ralph
CHLOE Johnson (24) Young, vital woman and mother, married to ANDREW – from Dumfries
Pauline Lockhart
JOHN Roman (60) A doctor, longs for retirement, former lover of ANNA Gregory, three sisters’ Mama – from London
Tayo Aluko
NICK Beck (39) Zero Carbon Agency office worker, in love with ERIN – from Edinburgh
Andrew Keay
BAZ Vasil (35) Zero Carbon Agency field worker, in love with ERIN – from Aberdeen
Santino Smith
THEODORA ‘TED’ Cullen (40) Teacher/administrator for Remote Learning Institute, in civil partnership with MIA – international, lives in New Abbey Catriona James
ALEX Peak (45) Head of the Zero Carbon Agency, in love with MIA – from London – together with Dr Sara Svensson, Senior Director, UN Environment Programme – they have two daughters.
Martin Edwards
ANTONIA Ruh (70) Oddkin to the family, a Spirit Mother – from London Fern Smith
Supported by: Buzzards, Swallows, Song Thrushes, Robins, Wood Pigeons, Great Tits, Carrion Crows, Goldfinches, Blackbirds, Nuthatches, Garden Warbler and Pied Wagtails.

Crew
Barry Han – Sound Recordist
Barney Iley – Production Manager
James Marriott – Writer
Lena Šimić – Director

With thanks to: Dennis Smith, Old Clock Shop, Dumfries; Pat Counsell,
Kirkconnell House, New Abbey; Jemma Dalton, Brambles Café, Dalbeattie; and Angela Darcy, Brennan Artists. Readers of the script at many stages including: Ben Lennon, Zoë Svendsen, Terry Macalister and Martin Edwards.

Those who performed in an earlier Zoom production of the work: Leentje van de Cruys, Brodie Arthur, Crystal Quinney Barella, Alister Lownie, Ben Phillips, Katherina Radeva, Emmanuel Bajiiji and Carran Waterfield. And those who commented on it: Emily Underwood-Lee, Gary Anderson, Helen Simpson, Lauriem Mompelat, Lesley Ferris, Jane Trowell, Judith Mills and Wallace Heim

01 Prologue And Act 01 Spring V2. - Three Sisters – The End of the Project

How to live?
In the face of the unfolding chaos of climate change, how are we to live?
Three Sisters: The End of the Project is an audio play from the future. Set in four acts between 2035 and 2038, the play explores how it is that we may live in the coming world of storms and restrictions. It imagines a future close enough to be real. Looking unflinchingly at what might change and what might not. It conveys the life of human hearts in a Britain that has been dramatically altered.

The very act of trying to look ahead to discern possibilities and offer warnings is in itself an act of hope. - Octavia Butler

Three Sisters: The End of the Project is co-created by James Marriott and Lena Šimić, and produced by Platform. This speculative theatre builds on Anton Chekhov’s classic play, taking us deep into questions of how might a transition unfold. It is an enthralling audio drama driven by a powerful cast of 11 professional actors. Previewing at The World Transformed 2022, it is available as podcasts on the festival FM podcast site and presented with a live panel discussion on Sunday 25th September 2.15pm – 3.30pm

For a fuller immersive experience of the audio play, you are encouraged to listen to the four acts in a 24-hour period, echoing the way it was recorded at
Kirkonnell House at the banks of the River Nith in South West Scotland. Act 1 at midday, Act 2 at around 8pm in the evening, Act 3 in the middle of the night, at 3am and finally Act 4 at midday again.

Characters and Cast
OLIVIA Gregory Cleary (38) Oldest sister, remote school teacher – from London
Elyssa Livergant
MIA Gregory Cullen (35) Middle sister, a pianist, in civil partnership with TED, in love with ALEX – from London
Kim Allan
ERIN Gregory Cleary (29) Youngest sister, gender queer, searching for a perfect job and love – from London
Laura Lake Adebisi
ANDREW Gregory Cleary (40) Brother of three sisters, works for Bioregional Council, married to CHLOE – from London
Philip Ralph
CHLOE Johnson (24) Young, vital woman and mother, married to ANDREW – from Dumfries
Pauline Lockhart
JOHN Roman (60) A doctor, longs for retirement, former lover of ANNA Gregory, three sisters’ Mama – from London
Tayo Aluko
NICK Beck (39) Zero Carbon Agency office worker, in love with ERIN – from Edinburgh
Andrew Keay
BAZ Vasil (35) Zero Carbon Agency field worker, in love with ERIN – from Aberdeen
Santino Smith
THEODORA ‘TED’ Cullen (40) Teacher/administrator for Remote Learning Institute, in civil partnership with MIA – international, lives in New Abbey Catriona James
ALEX Peak (45) Head of the Zero Carbon Agency, in love with MIA – from London – together with Dr Sara Svensson, Senior Director, UN Environment Programme – they have two daughters.
Martin Edwards
ANTONIA Ruh (70) Oddkin to the family, a Spirit Mother – from London Fern Smith
Supported by: Buzzards, Swallows, Song Thrushes, Robins, Wood Pigeons, Great Tits, Carrion Crows, Goldfinches, Blackbirds, Nuthatches, Garden Warbler and Pied Wagtails.
Crew
Barry Han – Sound Recordist Barney Iley – Production Manager James Marriott – Writer
Lena Šimić – Director

With thanks to: Dennis Smith, Old Clock Shop, Dumfries; Pat Counsell,
Kirkconnell House, New Abbey; Jemma Dalton, Brambles Café, Dalbeattie; and Angela Darcy, Brennan Artists. Readers of the script at many stages including: Ben Lennon, Zoë Svendsen, Terry Macalister and Martin Edwards.

Those who performed in an earlier Zoom production of the work: Leentje van de Cruys, Brodie Arthur, Crystal Quinney Barella, Alister Lownie, Ben Phillips, Katherina Radeva, Emmanuel Bajiiji and Carran Waterfield. And those who commented on it: Emily Underwood-Lee, Gary Anderson, Helen Simpson, Lauriem Mompelat, Lesley Ferris, Jane Trowell, Judith Mills and Wallace Heim

02 Act 2 Winter V2 - Three Sisters - The End of the Project

03 Act 3 Night Time V2 - Three Sisters - The End of the Project

04 Act 4 Late Summer V2 - Three Sisters - The End of the Project

Justin Schlosberg, Bhaskar Sunkara, Clive Lewis MP, Ellie Mae O’Hagan, Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi

As digital change combines with political polarisation, the way in which we consume news and interact with media organisations has changed dramatically. Yet in many ways the media remains thesame as it was fifty years ago, with most journalists sharing similar, elite backgrounds, and a handful of individuals owning most newspapers.

In this session we’ll be discussing the state of the media today and how we create a diverse and democratic media for the 21st century.

The World Transformed 2017

Whose Media Is It Anyway?

Vijay Prashad, Tithi Bhattacharya, Aaron Bastani, Lynne Segal, Wendy Liu

After the global financial crisis of 2008 almost precipitated the collapse of the world economy, more and more people have turned to the ideas of Karl Marx to help them understand the failures of capitalism and provide a vision for a different kind of society. In 2018, as even Teen Vogue are publishing articles about Marx, we ask what it means to be a communist today. Is it possible to separate the idea of communism from gulags and secret police? Two hundred years after his birth, are Marx’s ideas still relevant and can they help us to overcome the crises englufing our planet?

@vijayprashad @AaronBastani @lynne_segal @dellsystem & Tithi Bhattacharya

TWT2018

I'm Literally a Communist: Marx at 200

Saikat Chakrabarti, Julia Salazar, Lee Carter, Bhaskar Sunkara

The 2016 breakthrough of Bernie Sanders – and the more recent success of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – has put the American left in its strongest position for decades. Join a panel of American socialists to discuss the potential of this growing movement, what demands it should be making, and the obstacles it faces in making socialism mainstream in America.

Feeling the Bern: The Rise of the American Left

Dave Randall, Eliane Correa, Lowkey, Lois Browne, Shingai Shoniwa

How can we use the power of culture against the culture of power? Throughout history and across the world, music has been used as a political weapon. Looking at examples from Love Music Hate Racism to Justice4Grenfell, this session asks how we can use music to promote justice, solidarity and socialism.

Organised by Left Book Club. 
https://www.leftbookclub.com/

Soundtrack of the Movement: Why Music Matters

Clara Paillard, Stephen Pritchard, Rhiannon White, Peter Stark, Nick Mahony, Moussa Amine Sylla, Sophie Hope, Frances Northrop

Cultural democracy entails a struggle for the expansion of culture, politics and democracy beyond its current limits – its aim is to overcome damaging cultural hierarchies to help realise culture for all, by all. This session will provide a forum for participation to elaborate the draft ‘manifesto for cultural democracy’ to realise cultural democracy in our time.

Session by the Movement for Cultural Democracy
http://culturaldemocracy.uk/
@culturaldemo

A people powered manifesto for radical cultural democracy - what next?

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Lynne Segal, Rebecca Winson, Keir Milburn, Rick Burgess

There’s a 30% chance you will suffer from severe mental distress at some point in your lifetime. We are in the midst of a mental health crisis, exacerbated by cuts to health and social services. The causes of mental distress are varied: relationships, poverty, trauma, to name a few. Yet we rarely discuss the impact of the system we live in: neoliberal capitalism. Have changes in the way we work and live caused an epidemic of anxiety and depression? What role can Labour play in alleviating mental distress? And could socialism be the best antidepressant of all?

Lets Talk About Mental Health...and Capitalism

Joni Cohen, Toby Sinbad Walker, Dr Chamindra Weerawardhana, Evren BH

This session will raise consciousness about transgender liberation, situating issues affecting trans people today within the changing historical relationships between gender and capitalism. What should be the role of trans liberation within the broader movement for socialism? What opportunities would a radical Labour government offer for trans liberation, and what would be its limitations? How can we address issues affecting trans people now - in work, housing, healthcare, sex work, prisons, and migrant detention centres?

Fighting for Trans Liberation

Thomas Hanna, Cat Hobbs, Hilary Wainwright, Andrew Towers, Andrew Cumbers

On every continent, activists and political leaders are transforming struggles to resist privatisation into campaigns to restore and expand public ownership. The Labour Party is no exception. For some however, public ownership still means nothing more than top-down control and loads of bureaucracy. By looking at examples from across the globe, this session will discuss how this needn’t be the case, and what democratic forms of public ownership, with worker and community participation at their heart, might look like.

Democracy Collaborative

Taking What's Ours: Public Ownership from Below?

Freddie and Tin chat to Laura Basu, EU editor at openDemocracy's ourEconomy section.

Laura Basu on building an international left

In the first #RedHacks live event Joana Ramiro chats with Owen Jones, Kimberly McIntosh, and Simon Childs at The World Transformed festival in Brighton about the problems facing journalism and how both the general public and those working in the media can start bringing in change to a fundamentally neoliberal industry.

Sound Recording: @JAPinto
Live Sound: James Tranmer @ Green Door Store

Politics Theory Other #RedHacks - Live @ TWT w/ Owen Jones, Kimberly McIntosh, and Simon Childs

Recording of TWT and Verso's webinar on 21.05.20

Leo Panitch and Hilary Wainwright discuss the 1970s new left's attempts to radicalise the Labour Party.

Labour's New Left: Democracy and Socialism with Leo Panitch and Hilary Wainwright

Labour's 1983 election campaign was notoriously dubbed 'the longest suicide note in history'. It opened the way not only for a decade of Thatcher's brutal policies, but also for a sharp turn to the right in the Labour party itself. 

The idea that a left-wing program could never win an election became sacrosanct with the 1997 'New Labour' landslide. 

🎤 Leo Panitch and Jon Trickett MP discuss what was new Labour's path to power, within the party and the country? How did the left respond and organise in and against the party during this time?

Searching for Socialism: In and Against the Party with Leo Panitch and Jon Trickett

With UK politics gripped by a “culture war” - which the right is winning - how should the left understand and respond to these dynamics? This session will explore what is driving this “culture war”, how it impacts class struggle, whether it’s possible for the left to avoid it and, if not, what an effective strategy for engaging with it looks like.

With Joe Guinan, Lisa Nandy MP, Ash Sarkar, Alex Doherty & Kojo Koram.

Culture wars and class politics: examining the dividing lines #TWT20

For the past 40 years, we’ve been told that governments can’t do much to change our lives: they can’t fix climate change, they can’t make housing cheaper, they can’t care for the old or educate the young properly. Suddenly this year, we learned that they can manage a complete alteration of every aspect of our lives in a matter of weeks. How come?

UNDERSTANDING THE CRISIS PART 4: What are governments for? Christine Berry & Jeremy Gilbert #TWT20

As part of Disability History Month 2020 TWT and Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) teamed up to create this introduction to disability oppression. In it DPAC activist and Labour NEC member Ellen Morrison speaks to author and DPAC activist Ellen Clifford about: Who disabled people are? The difference between deaf and disabled people? The specific type of oppression disabled people face under capitalism? And how disability oppression manifests within our own movement?

This is part of a workshop plan that we’d encourage you to run with friends and/or your local group. You can find the workshop plan here: https://theworldtransformed.org/resourcehub/disability-oppression-101/

Disability Oppression 101 with Ellen Morrison & Ellen Clifford

Common Wealth and The World Transformed are pleased to present the launch of 'Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone', the latest book from labour journalist Sarah Jaffe.

'Work Won’t Love You Back' is a thoroughly reported investigation into the persistent myths around a “labour of love”, where work is done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries — from the unpaid intern, to the overworked teacher, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete — Jaffe reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work.

Jaffe is joined by Dalia Gebrial (Associate Researcher at Autonomy) and Amelia Horgan (author of the forthcoming Lost in Work: Escaping Capitalism). The discussion explores workplace democracy, the labour movement and more.

BOOK LAUNCH! 'Work Won't Love You Back' by Sarah Jaffe with Amelia Horgan & Dalia Gebrial

A four day festival of music, art & politics building power to Transform the World. Debates, discussion & other sounds from Liverpool & Brighton.

If you have audio from previous festivals please get in touch so we can share it here.

The World Transformed

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