Democracy
Culture, Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2023: Volume One
The very democratic and grassroots process of getting bums on seats
My growth both within and without the confines of the Greens has taken me on a somewhat meandering journey. I remember previous iterations of myself believing things that now seem anathema to who I have become, and other things which have vindicated some of my long-held beliefs. Some experiences influenced my opinions at the time, and proved to me the... Read More
Culture, Democracy, Economy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2023: Volume One
On mutual bicycle aid
Community bike workshops in Australia While the original formulation of ‘mutual aid’ by Kropotkin was radical and linked to changing political conditions, mutual aid in the voluntary sector of contemporary Australian society cuts across political positions, gender, race, and wealth. In this short article we will recount engagement with a growing movement of bike activists and volunteers who challenge consumerism... Read More
Culture, Democracy, Featured, Social Justice
The radical potential of Brisbane City Council
It’s no accident that so many Brisbanites think local government is mostly just about fixing potholes and building playgrounds. Power-holders find it convenient to perpetuate the narrative that councils are merely local service providers with limited political relevance, because it helps justify anti-democratic moves to take more power away from local communities, while reducing public scrutiny of the many big,... Read More
Democracy, Economy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Three
Who decides? The case for a Climate Jobs Guarantee
In a world of climate collapse, what and who is work for? We can’t solve the climate crisis if big business continues to decide what work we do. Instead we need to take public control of what work gets done and the conditions that we work under. A Climate Jobs Guarantee could deliver meaningful and dignified work decided by communities,... Read More
Democracy, Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Three, Social Justice, Theory
The work of grassroots organising
The browner your skin, the dirtier the work. Chicken factories across Australia are all virtually the same. Lit by fluorescent white lights, smelling of cleaning detergent and death, and socially stratified. Afghan or African workers in the kill rooms, South Asians defeathering. Vietnamese workers in the boning room slicing cuts off carcasses. White folks in the packing room. [...]
Democracy, Economy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Three
Building power to dissolve power
Power won't dissolve itself. We need to dissolve it. Any political strategy towards implementing a Universal Income must work, then, to build political power. Build power… to dissolve power. [...]
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Culture, Democracy, Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Three
Digital overtime
Much of the infrastructure behind the web, in particular social media, is built upon unpaid work. Unwittingly, we have all become workers for social media companies, a practice that is increasing both exploitation and alienation. In giving our free labour to big tech companies, we are becoming more alienated, both from our labour and our own communities. [...]
Culture, Democracy, Economy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Two, Social Justice, Theory
Green Agenda Journal 2022, Volume 2: On the Ground after the Election
For this issue of Green Agenda we welcome new critical and creative voices, writing from places where left political and ecological commitments are already making a difference. As a decade of liberal-conservative hegemony in government finally breaks, and as we shift to this new post-electoral moment, we also bring together several pieces that reflect on the federal election and the... Read More
Democracy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Two
The fight for East Gippsland’s forests
For many years, protection of ‘old growth forests’ was the key message, now we must protect all remaining forests threatened by logging. The remote town of Goongerah in far-eastern Victoria is a place most people have never heard of. I hadn’t either till the first time I went out there in Winter 2017 for a citizen science survey camp. Yet year... Read More
Democracy, Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Two
Work for degrowth
With the ‘Greenslide’ and a substantial gain in seats towards holding the balance of power in the Senate, Australian Greens come out of the 2022 federal election stronger and more influential than ever. Similarly, the German Greens gained almost 15 percent of the votes in the September 2021 national elections. They doubled their 2017 election result, even if disappointing those... Read More
