Hi everyone, I encountered this poem, from 1958, in "New Departures" (got it from British Library) The text is this - Nothing less than the solar core is good enough A living cell, a unique specimen described by its discoverers as 'eminently newsworthy,' turned out, upon severe microscopy, to be compact of mud, cities, carbon... Continue Reading →
On the use, abuse and non-use of history…
I do a climate histories site (All Our Yesterdays) and so clearly I believe there is value and wisdom in reflecting actively on what has happened before. Not in a cheerlead-y "weren't we right? Aren't we still right, still great" kind of way (though I suppose you need some of that for morale maintenance?). I... Continue Reading →
On failing to solve the January 4th 2023 problem….
Well, back in mid-2019 I wrote this Here's an excerpt January 4th 2023 is a Wednesday. There’s probably going to be a scrutiny committee meeting or two of Manchester City Council on that day. Back-bench councillors will gather to hear presentations from officers and Executive Members, and pick over reports. (In a perfect world Manchester City... Continue Reading →
The barriers to skill-sharing and what to do about them (maybe) #SocialMovements #SocialMovementPathologies
Hello, this post, inspired by this one on Friday covers some reasons why skills-sharing is so hard to do, especially in allegedly "non-hierarchical" social movement groups.. It covers why it matters, why it doesn’t happen easily, and, of course, ‘what we could do.’ I’ve tried to park my unhelpful (to other people if not myself)... Continue Reading →
Hello to new after-the-Conversation-article readers – barriers to skillsharing…
Today the Conversation posted another article of mine about Extinction Rebellion - you can read it here. I got a high profile follower out of it, and a lovely email from someone, and a media request. Anyway, if you've come here, you're probably interested in social movements, and so you're in the right place (or... Continue Reading →
“Ten Years since [the first] Climate Camp”
In 2016 some people put together a booklet to mark the ten year anniversary of the first "Camp for Climate Action." They published this among the various pieces-
All Our Yesterdays – climate histories for the future
Hi, at the start of the second year of All Our Yesterdays - 365+ Climate Histories here's a few basic facts. Please do ask questions, share this post, comment.Best wishes Marc Hudson What it is A website (and associated twitter feed) with at least one entry for every day of the year about something that... Continue Reading →
Unpublished FT letter, on Just Stop Oil, Thatcher and social movements… @JustStop_Oil
Another failed letter (my one success this year was in May. See here). The excellent letter from Patricia Finney ('It's simple physics and chemistry - climate change will kill us all', FT 17 December) will hopefully give readers o the FT in high places pause for thought. There are two points I wish to clarify.... Continue Reading →
“Little” lives – Johnson, Eliot, Chomsky vs that Nietzsche guy. #SocialMovements #SlaveMorality
So, have been thinking (for once) about failure, the meaning of it all etc There's that great essay by Samuel Johnson "What Have Ye Done?" which ends (spoilers, obvs) From this mistaken notion of human greatness it proceeds, that many who pretend to have made great advances in wisdom so loudly declare that they despise... Continue Reading →
What are the complementary assets of a successful* social movement organisation?
A page on this site, about "complementary assets" has had a lot of hits in the last 24 hours. Don't know why, but it's enough of a pretext to write something. I'll say what CA are, what a social movement organisation "is", why we should care about it, what the CAs of one would be... Continue Reading →
Marc Hudson 