Hi All,
Please see below for this week’s list of events (21st – 28th). Not quite as
massive this time around, and doesn’t need much explanatory gloss, so I’ll
just add (as always) that if you know of anything happening in your
communities or those around you that you think should be in here, let us know
by emailing: glasgowautonomyupdates@lists.riseup.net
‘Til next time…
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Tuesday 22nd October
– Lesley Riddoch; ‘What Scotland Needs to Flourish’ (Centre for Human Ecology)
Wednesday 23rd October
– Film Screening: ‘White Lies, Black Sheep’ (Digital Desperados)
Wednesday 23rd October – Sunday 27th October
– Edinburgh Radical Independent Book-Fair
Thursday 24th October
– Broth Mix Soup Night (Kinning Park Complex/Open Jar Collective)
Thursday 24th October
– Abortion Rights Demo @George Square (Glasgow Feminist Collective)
Thursday 24th October
– Film Screening: Reflections Unheard: Black Women in Civil Rights (Digital
Desperados)
Friday 25th October
– Unheard Voices Open Day (GHN)
Friday 25th October
– North Kelvin Meadow: Pop-Up Cinema
Saturday 26th October
– The James Connolly Song-Book Launch (w/ Matt Callaghan & Jim Kelman)
Saturday 26th October
– ‘University Links with Israel – a Bonus for Whom?’ (Scottish Friends of
Palestine)
Monday 28th October
– Nanotechnology: Hype, Fear, and Reality (Glasgow Skeptics)
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Tuesday 22nd October
– Lesley Riddoch; ‘What Scotland Needs to Flourish’ (Centre for Human Ecology)
The Pearce Institute, 840-860 Govan Rd, Glasgow G51 3UU
6.30pm
Organised by the Centre for Human Ecology and Govan Folk University; part of
the 2013 Lecture series – ‘Going Deeper in a Time of Change’.
Introduction to the Series:
For over 40 years, the Centre for Human Ecology has explored radical and
innovative frontiers of knowledge and hosted and supported leading thinkers.
In this public lecture series we continue that mission by bringing thought-
provoking and challenging speakers to the Pearce Institute in Govan, Glasgow,
providing an opportunity to hear new ideas and take part in community debate
and discussion.
In a time of global change and uncertainty, the urgency of the issues we face
requires a level of insight beyond that of political short-termism and crisis
management. Our speakers, from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, will
go deeper into the fundamental conditions and causes of some of the most
pressing social, ecological and spiritual issues of our times. They will offer
their perspectives on subjects as diverse as climate change, childhood,
Scotland’s future in the context of the independence referendum, indigenous
Scottish spirituality and it’s relevance today, and transformative popular
education in South Africa.
You are warmly invited to what promises to be a fascinating series. Light
refreshments provided. No registration required. Suggested donation: waged £5,
unwaged £2.
Lesley Riddoch joins us for the Glasgow launch of her new book ‘Blossom: What
Scotland Needs to Flourish’ published by Luath. Lesley is one of Scotland’s
best known commentators and broadcasters. She has held many influential
positions including assistant editor of The Scotsman and contributing editor
of the Sunday Herald. She is perhaps best known for her broadcasting with
programmes on Radio 4, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland, for which she has
won two Sony speech broadcaster awards.
She is a weekly columnist for The Scotsman and the Sunday Post and a regular
contributor to The Guardian’s Comment is Free.
About Blossom: What Scotland Needs To Flourish –
“Blossom is an account of Scotland at the grassroots through the stories of
people I’ve had the good fortune to know – the most stubborn, talented and
resilient people on the planet. They’ve had to be. Some have transformed their
parts of Scotland. Some have tried and failed. But all have something in
common – they know what it takes for Scotland to blossom. We should know too.
So this book poses a question as important as the one Scots must answer on 18
September 2014. Why is Scotland still the most unequal society and sickest man
(and woman) of Europe despite an abundance of natural resources and a long
history of human capacity? Facts and figures are a vital part of any story.
But they don’t bring Scotland’s dilemma alive. They don’t explain why people
with choices act as if they had none. They don’t explain why Scots over the
centuries have put on weight, not democratic muscle. They don’t explain why
cash and socialist tradition have failed to shift poverty. They don’t explain
why some Scots trash Scotland while others tiptoe round the place like it’s
only rented for the weekend. Why don’t ordinary Scots behave like the
permanent, responsible owners of this beautiful country? Is it because we are
not the owners – and never have been?!”
In Blossom: What Scotland Needs To Flourish, Lesley Riddoch relates stories of
Scots who’ve struggled against the odds to improve their communities – usually
without help from any of the authorities. She describes the tumultuous years
leading to the pioneering community buyout on Eigg; the brave decision by
housing coop pioneers in West Whitlawburn to take over their crumbling estate;
the 20 year project by Perthshire ecologists to prove arid, sporting estates
along the A9 could become verdant community woodland, the unconventional
methods of obstetrician Mary Hepburn who manages to reach Scotland’s sickest,
drug-using mothers, the story behind the Scotswoman paper and Harpies and
Quines feminist magazine – and much more. Weaving in comparisons with the
Nordic nations, Riddoch contends that ordinary Scots have demonstrated their
capacity to run Scotland time after time – yet continue to tolerate a
remarkably elitist, top-down, centralised, “stand there till we fix you”
society that will not change on its own whatever the vote on September 18th
2014
For Further Info – http://www.che.ac.uk/
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Wednesday 23rd October
– Film Screening: ‘White Lies, Black Sheep’ (Digital Desperados)
CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD
7pm
Scottish Premiere; Hosted by Digital Desperados.
Based on real events and taking the form of a ‘scripted documentary’, White
Lies, Black Sheep follows AJ, an African-American musician who is forced to
reconsider his identity. Whilst exploring what being black means to him, he’s
challenged by the illusions of integration as he moves through the
predominantly white East Village and Brooklyn indie rock scene.
For Further Info – http://www.digitaldesperados.org/screening-events/2013-2/
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Wednesday 23rd October – Sunday 27th October
– Edinburgh Radical Independent Book-Fair
36 Dalmeny Street (off Leith Walk), Edinburgh, EH6 8RG
Welcome to the 17th Edinburgh Independent and Radical Book-Fair – Edinburgh’s
alternative book festival, organised by Word Power Books.
With over 70 book-stalls, a cafe/bar, films, talks, exhibitions, music and
free events to boot, make sure you’ve got Wednesday 23rd ‘til Sunday 27th
October in your diary.
For Full Programme – http://www.word-power.co.uk/word_booklet.pdf
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Thursday 24th October
– Broth Mix Soup Night (Kinning Park Complex/Open Jar Collective)
Kinning Park Complex, 40 Cornwall Street, Glasgow, G41 1AQ
6.30 – 8pm
Open Jar Collective will be working with KPC in the lead up to the Glasgow
International Festival 2014 to create ‘Broth Mix’. During the 2 week GI
festival, Open Jar will transform the kitchen and main hall at KPC into a cafe
space for conversation, shared meals, talks and events that bring people
together through the common connection of food.
We’d really like you to be involved! Its free and all are welcome.
Come along for some homemade soup, hear more about the project and share
ideas.
If you can’t make it along but would like to get involved please contact Clem:
contact@openjarcollective.co.uk
For Further Info –
http://www.kinningparkcomplex.org/2013/10/broth-mix-soup-night/
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Thursday 24th October
– Abortion Rights Demo @George Square
George Square, Glasgow G2 1DU
5.30 – 7pm
Counter-demo called in response to pro-life/anti-abortion campaigners calling
for the repeal of the 1967 Abortion Act (see here:
http://tinyurl.com/pxfgrhx), in George Square on the 24th.
Support the right to choose – come join us and lets make sure they all know
women deserve the right to choose! Please share and bring friends , this event
is open to anyone who is pro choice.
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Thursday 24th October
– Film Screening: Reflections Unheard: Black Women in Civil Rights (Digital
Desperados)
CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD
7pm – 8.30pm
Hosted by Digital Desperados; shown as part of Black History Month.
This documentary focuses on how black women were caught between the racism of
the feminist movement and sexism in the black power movement and how they
mobilised together in response to this marginalisation. It intermingles
1960/70’s archival footage from the US with contemporary interviews with women
of colour activists from civil rights organisations such as the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panther party and the Third World
Women’s Alliance.
For Further Info: http://www.digitaldesperados.org/screening-events/2013-2/
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Friday 25th October
– Unheard Voices Open Day (GHN)
GHN, Unit 16a, Adelphi Centre, 12 Commercial Road, G5 0PQ
10.30am
Hosted by Glasgow Homelessness Network.
Recruiting new volunteer cast members!
Unheard Voices are a Scottish theatre group based in Glasgow, where the entire
cast and crew share a range or personal experiences associated with
inequality, trauma and poverty.
Come along and meet the group and have a chat on Friday 25th of October 2013
from 10am – 2.30pm at the Adelphi Centre, Glasgow. For more information e-mail
unheardvoices@ghn.org.uk
For Further Info – http://www.ghn.org.uk/unheardvoices/node/9
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Friday 25th October
– North Kelvin Meadow: Pop-Up Cinema
North Kelvin Meadow, Sanda St/Kelbourne St/Clouston St, Glasgow, G20 8PU
7pm
£5 (Under 16’s FREE)
The Children’s Wood will be the outdoor venue for the screening of filmmaker
David Bond’s film Project Wild Thing and the venue for Glasgow. Sue Palmer
author of best selling book Toxic Childhood, will be at the screening and give
a brief talk. Sue was involved with the making of Project WIld Thing and has
been a ‘childhood campaigner’ for the last ten years.
Please wear warm clothing and bring something to sit on. There will be
seating, but people can also pitch their own spot. Tickets from
childrenswood@hotmail.com
About the Film –
‘Project Wild Thing’ is an ambitious, feature-length documentary that takes a
funny and revealing look at a complex issue, the increasingly fragile
connection between children and nature. David Bond is concerned. His kids’
waking hours are dominated by a cacophony of marketing, and a screen
dependence threatening to turn them into glassy-eyed zombies. Like city kids
everywhere, they spend way too much time indoors – not like it was back in his
day. He decides it’s time to get back to nature – literally. In an attempt to
compete with the brands, which take up a third of his daughter’s life, Bond
appoints himself Marketing Director for Nature. Like any self-respecting
salesman, he sets about developing a campaign and a logo. With the help of a
number of bemused professionals, he is soon selling Nature to British
families. His humorous journey unearths some painful truths about modern
family life. His product is free, plentiful and has proven benefits – but is
Nature past its sell-by date?
The release of the film will coincide with the launch of an ambitious, film-
led campaign, PROJECT WILD THING: RECONNECTING KIDS AND NATURE. Bringing
together organisations, companies and individuals, the campaign hopes to get
all kids outdoors, enjoying the benefits of nature.
The campaign is supported by THE WILD NETWORK, a brand new collaborative
movement of charities, corporations and individuals, all committed to
reconnecting children in the UK with nature, founded by the National Trust,
RSPB, NHS Sustainable Development Unit, Play England, Play Wales, Play
Scotland, PlayBoard Northern Ireland, AMV BBDO, Green Lions and the BRITDOC
Foundation and joined by scores of organisations and thousands of individuals
who want to see kids enjoying the outdoors.
For Further Info – http://thechildrenswood.com/
Background on the North Kelvin Meadow – http://northkelvinmeadow.com/
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Saturday 26th October
– The James Connolly Song-Book Launch (w/ Matt Callaghan & Jim Kelman)
Glad Cafe, 1006 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, G41 2HG
8pm
“My grand aunt Nora Connolly, in her book We Shall Rise Again, said of rebel
songs: ‘For more may be remembered of a country’s history and treasured deep
in the heart of a people through a song or a poem than through the pages of a
history book’—how true. It was Nora who taught singers her father’s songs.
‘After 1916,’ she said, ‘I never did any more singing’—how sad. Now with this
project and through the great talent and commitment of all involved we can
hear Nora sing again.” —James Connolly Heron, great-grandson of James Connolly
and author of The Words of James Connolly.
Songs of Freedom is the name of the songbook edited by James Connolly and
published in 1907. Connolly’s introduction is better known than the collection
for which it was written, containing his oft-quoted maxim: “Until the movement
is marked by the joyous, defiant singing of revolutionary songs, it lacks one
of the most distinctive marks of a popular revolutionary movement, it is the
dogma of a few and not the faith of the multitude.” Though most of the songs
were of Irish derivation, the songbook itself was published in New York and
directed to the American working class, explicitly internationalist in its
aims.
Songs of Freedom is a celebration of the life and work of James Connolly, the
Irish revolutionary socialist martyred by the British government for his role
in the Easter Rising of 1916. It is at once a collection of stirring
revolutionary songs and a vital historical document. For the first time in a
hundred years, readers will find the original Songs of Freedom as well as the
1919 Connolly Souvenir program published in Dublin for a concert commemorating
Connolly’s birth. Both are reproduced exactly as they originally appeared,
providing a fascinating glimpse of the workers’ struggle at the beginning of
the last century.
To complete the picture is included the James Connolly Songbook of 1972, which
contains not only the most complete selection of Connolly’s lyrics, but also
historical background essential to understanding the context in which the
songs were written and performed. An American musician and writer, Mat
Callaghan will be performing his own arrangements of some of these songs and
Mat and influential Scottish writer, Jim Kelman shall be joining him to talk
about the importance of James Connolly.
There will also be a mini-stall from the Radical Independent Bookfair
(https://www.facebook.com/250139438423326)
Tickets are £8; entry for over-18’s only.
For Further Info: https://www.facebook.com/thegladcafe/app_477662122297015
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Saturday 26th October
– ‘University Links with Israel – a Bonus for Whom?’ (Scottish Friends of
Palestine)
Wellington Church, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 9LE
1pm – 5pm
Hosted by Scottish Friends of Palestine. Speakers include Ilan Pappe and
Jonathan Rosenhead.
Ilan Pappe will argue the case for the academic boycott of Israel; Pappe was
born in Haifa in 1954. Graduated from the Hebrew University in 1979 and
completed his doctorate studies in the university of Oxford in 1984. Pappe
taught in University of Haifa between 1984 and 2006 in the department of
Middle Eastern History and Political Science. Due to his support of the
academic boycott of Israel and his insistence of teaching the 1948 Nakbah he
was forced to resign in 2007. In 2007, Pappe joined the Institute of Arab and
Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter and founded the European Centre
for Palestine Studies there.
He is the author of fifteen books most notably The Ethnic Cleansing of
Palestine (2006)
Our second speaker will discuss the academic boycott with reference to recent
litigation concerning the boycott’s legality in relation to issues of
discrimination.
Lecturer in law at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of
London.
Prof Jonathan Rosenhead has been asked to discuss the nature of any bonus for
those academics who choose to collaborate with Israel; Rosenhead is Professor
Emeritus of Operations Research at the London School of Economics. He is Chair
of BRICUP, the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, an
organisation of UK based academics which supports the Palestinian Call for
Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. It has been active in promoting the
boycott in Britain and world wide. He is the principal author of BRICUP’s
pamphlet Why Boycott Israel’s Universities?
For Further Info – https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowUniversityPalestineSociety
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Monday 28th October
– Nanotechnology: Hype, Fear, and Reality (Glasgow Skeptics)
The Admiral Bar, 72a Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 7DA
7pm
A Talk by Michael Fay – Hosted by Glasgow Skeptics. A brief history of
nanotechnology – which goes back further than you might think – and where we
are now. A story that includes scientists, futurologists, hucksters,
terrorists, politicians, the media, and everyone else. Alongside the genuine
excitement in the possibilities, nanotechnology has also come with the
unwelcome accompaniment of a great deal of both hype and alarmism. How much is
the reality swamped by the Hollywood plot device, and what does it tell us
about the link between science and the public?
Michael Fay is Research fellow at Nottingham Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Centre, part of Nottingham University where he is responsible for the day to
day operation of the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre
microscopy suite. He was also responsible for the production of the world’s
smallest periodic table which was written on a human hair. This feat was
recognized by the Guinness Book of Records in 2011.
For Further Info: http://glasgow.skepticsinthepub.org/
Glasgow Anarchist Federation 