On Wednesday 8 October, the GLO team will run a workshop in Newcastle upon Tyne, bringing together researchers and practitioners from communities in and beyond the North East of England to understand the dynamic interaction between the local and global over the last hundred years. Entitled ‘Change Making between the Local and the Global: A Conversation’, the event will cover and transcend two spheres – on the one hand, the world of global politics, comprising international institutions such as the UN, League of Nations or World Bank, their officials, and transnational social movements; on the other hand, local politics and everyday environments. The event will highlight how the interconnection between global issues and local action generated specific spaces for democratic engagement, through varied practices and forms of activism.
Taking place at Northumbria University, the event begins with four one-to-one conversations between a local practitioner and a researcher who, at different levels, are engaging with a particular global issue (peace, gender equality, human rights). After some short reflections and dialogue, these will be opened up to general discussion.
Following on from these conversations, we will take a different approach to addressing challenges and issues associated with local campaigning and activism on global matters. These could include questions relating to tactics, maintaining unity amid moderate and radical factions, the engagement of key stakeholders, including the public. Attendees, including practitioners, researchers and interested members of the public, will be split into small groups to consider solutions to these challenges. Thus, the session aims at problem-solving through dialogues between participants as well as bringing academic expertise to bear on these reflections. We will write up findings from this meeting for a policy paper and a reflective piece.
Participation is free, but we ask people to register in advance to help us plan the event. You can register via this link. For any questions, feel free to contact Henry Miller or Daniel Laqua.
Programme
10:00 Opening
Henry Miller (Vice Chancellor’s Fellow, Northumbria University) and Daniel Laqua (Professor of History, Northumbria University)
10:15 Conversation 1: Peace
Nick Megoran (Professor of Human Geography, Newcastle University)
Sophie Scott-Brown (Honorary Research Fellow, University of St Andrews)
Chair: Daniel Laqua
11:15 Break
11:30 Conversation 2: Human rights
Jen Clark (Economic, Cultural and Social Rights Director, Amnesty International) and Mark Hurst (Lecturer in the History of Human Rights, Lancaster University)
Chair: Aileen Lichtenstein (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Northumbria University)
12:30 Conversation 3: Gender equality
Louise Crosby (Strategic EDI Lead, Newcastle City Council) and Julia Moses (Professor of Modern History, University of Sheffield)
Chair: Henry Miller (Northumbria University)
13:30 Lunch
14:15 Conversation 4: The environment
Joanna Watson (former Communications Manager, Friends of the Earth) and Matthew Kelly (Professor of History, Northumbria University)
15:15 to 16:00 Closing group discussion
16:15 Close
