Presenting "Trust The People" - XR Future Democracy Hub's new front line in the climate emergency
Like many others, A/UK has been working with Extinction Rebellion at various levels of their movement - which is open to input and participation from a variety of research and political positions.
This piece is from two colleagues of ours associated with XR’s forays into the future of democracy (as reported here). Greg Frey and Mags Mulowska are XR activists working with the Future Democracy Hub (Mags is a social worker for children and families, Greg is a writer).
They are part of a growing group now focused on a striking new XR programme called Trust The People - a method and a campaign to build democratic power in communities, oriented around the climate crisis and coronavirus.
They explain all in their essay below, and in a Zoom interview with A/UK co-initiator Indra Adnan (embedded above). We will post some images at the end of this post from their excellent PDF (download here) which shows the methods and techniques of Trust The People. Their trinity of “self, community and system” very much echoing our “I - We - World” framework at A/UK.
We’re excited and proud to highlight this next stage in XR’s development.
Trust The People: A Democratic Revolution For A Time Of Climate Crisis and coronavirus
Greg Frey and Mags Mulowska
Extinction Rebellion explicitly links the climate and ecological crisis with the broader democratic crisis around the world. The Future Democracy Hub is a part of the movement which looks outwards to learn from and help build radical democracy now.
In our discussion with Indra above, we share the story of how Extinction Rebellion, a movement based on Nonviolent Civil Disobedience, is also engaging in community building, and is using both tools to work towards system change.
Our project, Trust the People, is a programme to help people use People’s Assemblies (an inclusive, deliberative process) in every neighbourhood, so that communities can crowdsource solutions to whatever issue they want to tackle.
Our goal is to create spaces for people to step into their agency, their collectivised power, because a collectivised group of individuals with agency is stronger than the sum of those individuals.
There is a synergy to be found when people come together to actively construct the society that they want to live in. We know that it will be one that addresses the Climate and Ecological Emergency because the polls are clear that an overwhelming majority (85%) want action on the crisis.
And so one of the best things we can do to face the environmental crisis is create a world which trusts the people. This requires a deep listening more than joining the shouting match.
After all, what kind of democratic revolution would it be if XR rebels prioritised our own agenda over and above what others feel is important?
A politics fit for purpose must honour the voices of all of us. We are not in competition with each other; the problems that we all care about are interconnected.
Look at our communities throughout the UK right now. People are becoming powerful. At least three quarters of a million people have volunteered to support the NHS alone, even more are stepping in to support their communities in response to the coronavirus pandemic. People have formed over 4,000 mutual aid groups.
There is a new energy for action and for filling the void left by central government. Our programme is designed to equip people with the tools and skills they need to fan this energy into a radical flame for tackling the other crises we face.
The Future Democracy Hub is trying to learn from radical democratic movements from all over the world, such as Rojava in Kurdistan, the Spanish Municipalists, Cooperation Jackson to name a few. A big part of this project is our co-created learning series and its peer support network of Community Transformers.
This graphic [download PDF] gives an overview of the program and how to join it. We don’t have all the answers but we have to act now, and we need all the support we can get. Email xrdemocracy@protonmail.com if you can help us build this together.
Self-organised and connected communities are strong and resilient, they can deliberate, make collective decisions and take action. Maybe they’ll opt to reclaim their local council, or start an energy co-op or a community allotment.
Whatever they choose, having a shared purpose and activity will bring them together, something our lonely and polarised society is sorely in need of.
There are dark days ahead. We are about to enter an economic depression. And the window of opportunity to tackle the Climate and Ecological Emergency is narrowing fast.
Our communities are uniting across the traditional divides to rise up and to win. Another world is possible. And we are going to make it happen.
Samples from the Trust the People infographic:
Download full PDF here
Download full PDF here
Download full PDF here