Surviving Society

In this episode Vik explains to us some of the current pressures and working conditions faced by school teachers and why striking remains essential to the future of our education system. https://www.redpepper.org.uk Summary In this Red Pepper and Surviving Society collaboration we platform workers and academics to explore the history of trade unions and industrial action in Britain. Executively produced by Liam Kennedy. Many of us within society feel disconnected from the politics of the workplace. Whilst action is at its highest level in decades, there remains very little substantive analysis of the backgrounds and longer histories that has led to specific strikes. The series places industrial action into wider debates about public ownership, capitalism and the economy.

Liam is joined by special guest host Ez Chigbo to learn more about the current working conditions faced by doctors and nurses and why striking is essential for the future of the NHS. https://www.redpepper.org.uk Summary In this Red Pepper and Surviving Society collaboration we platform workers and academics to explore the history of trade unions and industrial action in Britain. Executively produced by Liam Kennedy. Many of us within society feel disconnected from the politics of the workplace. Whilst action is at its highest level in decades, there remains very little substantive analysis of the backgrounds and longer histories that has led to specific strikes. The series places industrial action into wider debates about public ownership, capitalism and the economy.

In this first episode of this new series, we explore the history of trade unions in Britain. We learn about the decades of restrictions imposed on workers and how people continue to find ways to resist workplace inequities. Summary In this Red Pepper and Surviving Society collaboration we platform workers and academics to explore the history of trade unions and industrial action in Britain. Many of us within society feel disconnected from the politics of the workplace. Whilst action is at its highest level in decades, there remains very little substantive analysis of the backgrounds and longer histories that has led to specific strikes. The series places industrial action into wider debates about public ownership, capitalism and the economy.

In our first episode of 2024, Jason interviews Chantelle about the history of Surviving Society. As we reflect on the 7th year of the podcast, we explore the political, radical and loving groundings of the show.

Adom returns to the show to share details of the Surviving Storms project which has mapped hurricane impacts and processes of repair in Dominica following Hurricane Maria in 2017. Links: https://survivingstorms.com

Nicholas explains to us why constitutional law (or a lack of) in the UK and US matters for elections and modern democracy. Links: https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/person/dr-nicholas-cole https://www.quill.pmb.ox.ac.uk/

In the final episode of this series, we explore themes from Gary Younge’s latest book Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter. Links: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571376827-dispatches-from-the-diaspora https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK. This collaborative series takes a close look at the research produced at the centre from issues ranging from statues, racism, the cultural industries and COVID-19.

With Sudha Bhuchar and Roaa Ali, we explore the tension between diversity and anti-racism in theatre and the cultural industries. Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK. This collaborative series takes a close look at the research produced at the centre from issues ranging from statues, racism, the cultural industries and COVID-19. Links: https://www.bhucharboulevard.com https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/discover/briefings/creative-industries/

In this episode Rima Saini supported us to interview Nissa Finney about EVENS which is the largest and most comprehensive survey to document the lives of ethnic and religious minorities in Britain during the pandemic. https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/research/projects/evens/ Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK. This collaborative series takes a close look at the research produced at the centre from issues ranging from statues, racism, the cultural industries and COVID-19.

In this episode we hear from Bridget Byrne, Alana Lentin and Vron Ware on the history of whiteness studies and what this scholarship has done to both obscure and help us to understand the social reproduction of race. https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK. This collaborative series takes a close look at the research produced at the centre from issues ranging from statues, racism, the cultural industries and COVID-19.

In this episode we hear from Meghan Tinsley, Gary Younge and Chloe Peacock about their research on the activism which surrounds statues of empire and slavery. The research team - which also included Ruth Ramsden-Karelse and Sadia Habib – looked at political discourse and policy literature and conducted interviews with activists to compare the contestation of statues across fifteen sites in the UK, the US, South Africa, Martinique, and Belgium. Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK. This collaborative series takes a close look at the research produced at the centre from issues ranging from statues, racism, the cultural industries and COVID-19. Links: https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/research/projects/contesting-statues/

Directors of CoDE, Bridget Byrne, Claire Alexander and James Nazroo introduce a new collaborative series of Surviving Society focused on the research produced within the centre. This episode focuses on the politics of communicating research on ethnic inequalities during political calamities. Links: https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/ https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/bridget.byrne https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/claire.alexander https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/james.nazroo Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK. This collaborative series takes a close look at the research produced at the centre from issues ranging from statues, racism, the cultural industries and COVID-19.

In this episode, Sita and Chantelle discuss the conversations from the Structure of Feeling series, exploring the impact of urgent political calamities on our everyday lives. About Structure of Feeling In this Surviving Society miniseries, Sita Balani draws on the ideas of socialist thinker Raymond Williams who coined the term ‘structure of feeling’ to capture our collective emotional experience of social change. Interviewing Kieran Yates, Yara Rodrigues Fowler, Alfie Bown and Tabitha Lasley, these conversations reveal how writing can help us to trace the texture of everyday life, the rhythms of relationships forged as the old social contract frays, and the moments of possibility that emerge in this time of political rupture. These writers document the ways in which powerful political forces are felt in the tempo of an individual life, and the kinds of agency we have to shape this changing world.

S1/E4 Sita Balani & Alfie Bown: The gamification of social life According to Alfie Bown, we are in the middle of a ‘desirevolution’ — a fundamental and political transformation of the way we desire as human beings. Dream Lovers. The Gamification of Relationships attempts to understand how digital technologies are reshaping our subjectivity. This interview focuses on the unexpected interconnections Bown traces: between dating apps and work, pornography and geopolitics, smart cities and anxiety. Links: https://www.brownsbfs.co.uk/Product/Bown-Alfie-Royal-Holloway-University-London/Dream-lovers---the-gamification-of-relationships/9780745344874 About Structure of Feeling In this Surviving Society miniseries, Sita Balani draws on the ideas of socialist thinker Raymond Williams who coined the term ‘structure of feeling’ to capture our collective emotional experience of social change. Interviewing Kieran Yates, Yara Rodrigues Fowler, Alfie Bown and Tabitha Lasley, these conversations reveal how writing can he

In this episode Sita is in conversation with Tabitha about her non-fiction debut, Sea State: A Memoir. This book explores the world of North Sea Oil – an industry often overlooked despite its huge economic and ecological significance. Lasley is drawn to the rig workers – working class men who find themselves making big money by living in conditions of isolation, homosociality, and infrastructural negligence. She weaves ethnographic insights with the story of her affair with a married rig worker. The interview explores the relationship between money, masculinity and power, the role of class, home, and family in our desires, and the hidden significance of oil in the making of gender. Links: https://www.waterstones.com/book/sea-state/tabitha-lasley/9780008390976 About Structure of Feeling In this Surviving Society miniseries, Sita Balani draws on the ideas of socialist thinker Raymond Williams who coined the term ‘structure of feeling’ to capture our collective emotional experience of social change. Interviewi

In this episode, Sita is in conversation with Yara on their novels – Stubborn Archivist and There Are More Things. The conversation focuses on transnational circuits of political repression and resistance – in particular the connections between the UK and Brazil. Experimental yet accessible, Fowler’s work captures the rhythms of life in contemporary London and the ways in which the city is shaped by longer historical forces with global reach. The interview focuses on fiction as a form, asking where the novel can take us that other kind of writing can’t reach. Links: https://www.waterstones.com/book/there-are-more-things/yara-rodrigues-fowler/9780349726724 https://yararodriguesfowler.com About Structure of Feeling In this Surviving Society miniseries, Sita Balani draws on the ideas of socialist thinker Raymond Williams who coined the term ‘structure of feeling’ to capture our collective emotional experience of social change. Interviewing Kieran Yates, Yara Rodrigues Fowler, Alfie Bown and Tabitha Lasley, th

In this episode Sita is in conversation with journalist and author Kieran Yates to discuss her non-fiction debut, All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home in a System that Fails Us. This book offers an acute portrayal of our defining generational experience: insecure housing. Yates not only captures the everyday details of the housing crisis – the constant movement, the mould blooming in the bathroom, the Spare Room housemate auditions – but reveals the historical forces that brought them into being. The interview explores her experience as a journalist, the making and breaking of post-war housing provision, and the imaginative and collective ways people make homes in the face of exploitation and neglect. Links: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/All-The-Houses-Ive-Ever-Lived-In/Kieran-Yates/9781398509832 About Structure of Feeling In this Surviving Society miniseries, Sita Balani draws on the ideas of socialist thinker Raymond Williams who coined the term ‘structure of feeling’ to capture ou

This week Ez, Aaron and Chantelle are in conversation about the state of politics, how we can be better critical friends of each other and what imagining alternatives to the current systems looks like in practice.

In this episode we hear from Malecka about her work as a race equality manager in Liverpool city’s regional combined authority, a cofounder of Elevate (youth mentoring) and her volunteer work at the Caribbean Centre. Malika’s role in the local authority was created in response to the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020. Welcome to surviving society presents Hidden Histories. This is a collaborative project focused on histories and contemporary formations of empire, imperialism and slavery in Britain and the Caribbean. You are listening to season one, Resistance and Restoration in Black Liverpool. In these episodes we locate Black Liverpool as a site of pride, history and resistance. We feature researcher's and community organisers who discuss themes related to grassroot organising, health, art, and the Toxeth uprisings. We hope you find these episodes informing, invigorating and inspiring Executively produced by Shelda-Jane Smith, Levi Gahman, Chantelle Lewis & George Ofori-Addo. Branding by Munotida Ch

Creative, artist and filmmaker Michelle joined us to talk about how her work and art highlights the holistic experience and identity of Black scousers in Liverpool. Links: https://lbah.co.uk Welcome to surviving society presents Hidden Histories. This is a collaborative project focused on histories and contemporary formations of empire, imperialism and slavery in Britain and the Caribbean. You are listening to season one, Resistance and Restoration in Black Liverpool. In these episodes we locate Black Liverpool as a site of pride, history and resistance. We feature researcher's and community organisers who discuss themes related to grassroot organising, health, art, and the Toxeth uprisings. We hope you find these episodes informing, invigorating and inspiring Executively produced by Shelda-Jane Smith, Levi Gahman, Chantelle Lewis & George Ofori-Addo. Branding by Munotida Chinyanga - www.munotida.com