Radical change does not come from individuals in meetings. Radical change comes from mass movements working together to struggle for a better future. I will empower students to campaign against Carbon Emissions and fight for a Green New Deal. The time for radical change is NOW!
A Bit About Myself
I’m a second year student studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Now that might sound like I’m gearing up selling my soul in a Tory cabinet but I promise that is definitely not the case. Over the last five years I’ve thrown myself into all kinds of activism. From pay disputes at work to fighting for renters rights, from working to aid refugees to organising antifascist resistance against the extreme right and even working on the ground in Palestine, I’ve seen a fair share of projects being set up around the world. From this, I’d like to think I have an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
Single-handedly, I am not going to be able to save the planet. Single-handedly, I’m not going to be able to make QUB Carbon Neutral. But what I can do is use my experience as a campaigner and organiser to set the systems in place so that you, the student body, can have the skills and confidence to change the world into a better place. I want to leave this job with a student body in place that is enthusiastically agitating, educating and organising for a better world.
Organise
One of the biggest issues that I have experienced in my time as an activist is that many people do not find them accessible. While well intentioned, groups can often be dominated by a certain few who have had experience in these issues to the detriment of others trying to find a way in. That is why I want to see a student body that is comfortable in taking action into their own hands when they see an environmental issue that needs tackling.
We can do this by:
Having continuous workshops from experienced activists where they will go through how to efficiently organise for an issue that they feel most concerned about. These will cover everything that is needed to know in order to get involved with or even start their own environmental movement.
Having conversations on the theory of activism in a low pressure context through book clubs and discussion groups aimed around building an environmental movement.
Creating broader networks with other environmentalist activists and collaborating with their work.
Every student should feel comfortable in speaking out for the world they want to preserve. Let’s create a situation where that is possible.
Education
In order for anyone to understand the system that they are trying to change they have to understand how that system works. A constant issue I have noticed across many activist groups is that they are trying to make others care about an issue that they are unaware of. In the context of QUB, many people are unaware of the contracts that the university has made with companies that are actively making decisions which are damaging the environment That is why I am proposing a watchdog initiative.
The aim of this will be to provide the students studying at QUB with easily accessible information about the financial deals that QUB is making so that they themselves can make decisions as to whether they are happy with this. This will take the form through social media (with an online blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and periodic pamphlets which will be distributed around Queen’s Buildings and student areas.
Knowledge of your university’s finances should not be an unknown phenomena known only by a small, select clique. This knowledge should be shared to every student at QUB.
Agitate
Demonstrations have become part and parcel of student politics while at the same time have done very little. This is because a demonstration should be the starting point of a campaign, not the end. We need to find more creative ways of attempting to change minds, both in positions of power and those of other students. With a global pandemic, this is even more important.
Throughout the past few years, we have seen great displays of non-violent acts of civil disobedience which have shaken the foundations of the establishment. From die-ins and blockades to collective gardens to we have seen a variety of tactics and strategies which can be utilised.
Sustainability
One of the biggest criticism environmental politics comes under is that people, students in particular, are not able to afford a lifestyle which is purely sustainable. That is why we need to have a broader view on tackling capitalism rather than lecturing from a moral high ground. Along with building a mass movement on environmental lines, we need to be making sure that students are in an accessible position to make these decisions. We can do this by:
Campaigning against landlords charging illegal letting fees and the extortionate cost of accommodation in Elms.
Campaigning against the hidden cost of university.
Campaigning for better pay for student workers.
As well as any other issues that are having an impact on the student wallet.