[ELECTRON] Fwd: Invite to Right to the City Forum - Glasgow Sat 24th July

[Simon Yuill]

Right to the City Forum

MEETING TIME AND PLACE:

Kinning Park Complex, Cornwall Street, Glasgow, G41 1AQ
(opposite Kinning Park Underground)

Saturday 24th July - 12.30 for 1pm prompt start, until 5pm

Map: http://tiny.cc/no7zk

WHO:

This is an open invitation to all those who seek to overcome political
sectarianism, respect difference, and develop new and ongoing models of
cultural and political activity in a time where the need for such
organisation is self-evident.

PROPOSAL:

Responding to the positive reactions to the public walk and sound
workshop held in May <http://www.strickdistro.org> with Ultra-Red and
Arika as part of Uninstal, we propose a follow-on workshop of
facilitated small and large group discussion arising from the
proposition of:

The Right to the City?

"The question of what kind of city we want cannot be divorced from that
of what kind of social ties, relationship to nature, lifestyles,
technologies and aesthetic values we desire. The right to the city is
far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a
right to change ourselves by changing the city. It is, moreover, a
common rather than an individual right since this transformation
inevitably depends upon the exercise of a collective power to reshape
the processes of urbanization." (David Harvey, 'The Right to the City')

Utilising the provisional banner of Right to the City* we hope the forum
can be used as a way to develop a meaningful critical culture in
Glasgow, and create the possibility for more praxis in bread-and-butter
organising around a politics of space. The benefit of such a forum is
that it retains the autonomy of existing organisations and may help
strengthen them; it allows for more organised solidarity and networking
across the city; it doesn't place undue emphasis on creating another
‘new’ organisation taking up more activists' time; and it retains an
open, public, transparent structure. The forum can also provide a
crucial face-to-face meeting and exchange point, and help generate more
conviviality between different groups.

(*Please note that this proposition is intended as a proposal or
experiment and is not intended to dictate the direction of future events
or meetings, beyond providing a temporary framework for exchange and
discussion.)

We want to help provide a space, or forum, for discussion and exchange
and hopefully help in the long term to build the capacity for cultural
and political interventions, community organising, and mutual
solidarity. Taking our cue from the summary of the sound workshop, we
believe that ‘community organising’ should provide the main thread in a
series of developing inter-related discussions around collective
political and cultural practice.

The forum will provide room for open discussion of who ‘we’ are; what we
are, and what we are not; and where we want to go. We will broadly
follow the outline of the previous workshop
<http://www.strickdistro.org> with Ultra-Red (although this time without
recorded sound but ensuring new participants are made aware of the
process they are entering). It is important that everyone should have
the chance to speak if they wish to, with no one agenda dominating.

As well as wanting to develop further the links made with previous
participants, importantly, we wish to encourage other groups and
individuals to participate who share an interest in collective
organisation and discussion around issues thrown up by the provocation
of the Right to the City.

No specific outcome is sought from this workshop in advance, but ideas
for activity could be examined more concretely at a follow-up event if
that is the way the discussion develops. (So that you are aware, Arika
and Ultra-Red themselves wish to continue working with the group of
people from the walk and the sound workshop and are keen to make new
connections in Glasgow, and that this relationship could be a useful
part in a longer process of developing radical collaborations.)

SOME PRACTICAL INFO:

So as to get a sense of numbers for tables, tea & sandwiches, could you
please let us know if you are coming by sending an email to:
Gordon Asher <gordonasher at hotmail.com>

TIMETABLE:

12.30 arrival for 1.00 start (prompt).

1.00 - 1.15: intro and background to the event (Neil Gray)

1.15 - 1.30: participants' introductions (led by Gordon Asher)

1.30 - 2.15: smaller groups explore emergent themes on issues of
'community organising'

2.15 - 2.30: BREAK

2.30 - 3.15: groups feedback to other tables with main themes or
questions arising from table discussions

3.15 - 3.30: BREAK

3.30 - 4.30: Extended discussion between all participants. Reflections
on the day's processes, enquiry into what may have been missing from the
event and what might be included in future events?

4.30 - 4.35: SHORT BREAK

4.35 - 5.00: Discuss possibilities for the next event

FACILITATION: Each of the small tables will be facilitated by one
volunteer from the previous workshop. Gordon Asher and Neil Gray will
facilitate the event overall. The intention is for it to have a social
element that is conducive and transparent.

TEXTS: The links below are not obligatory reading, and we don’t intend
to dictate the direction of what we hope will be an open and developing
discussion, but we think they might provide useful theoretical and
practical background information for those participating.

David Harvey, ‘The Right to the City’, New Left Review, Sep-Oct, 2008
http://www.newleftreview.org/?view=2740
Right to the City Alliance (US)
http://www.righttothecity.org/home.html


Best Wishes,
Neil Gray

(On behalf of several non party-political individuals who have
informally discussed developing the Uninstal events).

Arika: http://www.arika.org.uk/
Ultra-Red: http://www.ultrared.org/directory.