People’s Assemblies

Assemblies Can ‘Make The Public A Formidable Force’

October 3, 2024 Ed Sykes, The Canary. Organize! Neoliberalism, Participatory Democracy, People's Assemblies, United Kingdom (UK)

Assemble is a group working to set up local assemblies around Britain. Its aim is for ordinary people to deliberate on important local, national, and international issues, and on the potential solutions to them. Then, delegates would come together at a House of the People. The launch of this house took place in August, and you can see the Canary‘s full, first-hand report on it here. On 23 September, Assemble spokesperson Maddison Wheeldon delivered a statement outside parliament. She highlighted “five urgent political priorities” that people around the country had decided on at the launch. Having stood as an independent candidate in Warrington North during the general election and organised a local assembly, she’s committed to helping ordinary people decide their own fate via assemblies.

Assemble Lights Up Parliament With ‘Evict The Lords’ Projection

September 25, 2024 Ed Sykes, The Canary. Organize! Democracy, Light Projection, People's Assemblies, United Kingdom (UK)

On 23 September, the words “EVICT THE LORDS” and “POWER TO A HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE” were projected onto parliament. This rounded off a day in which Assemble, a group with roots in the modern climate movement, highlighted “five urgent political priorities” that people around the country had decided on. Assemble spokesperson Maddison Wheeldon delivered the statement in front of the Emmeline Pankhurst statue outside parliament, “standing in front of a replica of the throne seen in the House of the Lords — typical of the extreme luxury and aristocratic trappings seen in the chamber”:

Camila Vergara’s Bold Vision For A Plebeian Constitutionalism

June 1, 2024 David Bollier. Create! Chile, oligarchy, Participatory Democracy, People's Assemblies

Systemic corruption is not about a few venal politicians who take bribes or bureaucrats who collude with wealthy corporations. It's about the systemic oligarchization of power within a general respect for the rule of law. Elites come to dominate the state political apparatus and warp the law to suit their interests and desires, betraying the promise of democracy. That's why plebeians must have explicit constitutional powers, says Vergara. In Systemic Corruption, Vergara opens up a new kind of conversation that I have never heard before in political circles or the news media. She proposes new types of constitutional power for plebeian institutions so that the interests of ordinary people will be baked into modern constitutional systems.

People’s Health Assemblies Towards A More Caring World

May 21, 2023 David Legge, People's Dispatch. Organize! Colombia, Health Care, New International Economic Order, People's Assemblies

A carnival of many colors, many backgrounds, many different political perspectives; sharing experiences, discussing how people’s health is shaped, exploring how health care can be transformed: this is the People’s Health Assembly (PHA). The PHA is the top direction-setting forum for the People’s Health Movement (PHM). But it is much more than that. Plenary presentations; sub-plenaries for further exploration and discussion; workshops, music, dancing, marching, and breaking bread. Many participants at previous PHAs have found the experience deeply inspiring: finding comrades you didn’t know existed; learning what is different and finding what is common; hearing stories which are new but which are also familiar; throwing new light on pathways forward.

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