1/5 Absolutely disgraceful.

"The issue of reparations for slavery is not on the agenda for next week’s Commonwealth heads of government (Chogm) summit, and the UK is not considering paying up, Downing Street has said."

theguardian.com/world/2024/oct… 2/5 It turns out reparations are okay though - as long as it's for the bourgeoisie.

After the official abolition of slavery in the Empire the UK government actually compensated slave-owners "for the loss of their property" to the tune of £20 million.

.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/…

Some really interesting (and welcomed) thoughts from @JKSteinberger on class, classism + movement building which I encourage everyone to read, especially as this shines a slightly different, middle class perspective on things.

And i'll include some of my own thoughts below 🧵

https://twitter.com/JKSteinberger/status/1782148801681043916

Firstly, here's @payalclimate's summary on the recent panel talk with @Matthuber78 and @assad_shoaib

https://twitter.com/payalclimate/status/1782323596255248739

It’s exciting to be in Zagreb, Croatia for the 9th international #degrowth conference. However it’s vital to bare in mind that degrowth is currently a movement incapable of attracting mass public and political support. It remains unrelatable to the broader populace. 🧵 It’s virtually devoid of the very people we purport to stand in alliance with (such as the working class, those from the global South), meaning that they remain spoken on behalf of rather than having an active voice in shaping the visions of the movement.

Initial communication of degrowth’s concepts to the working class requires changing the language used. Talking about growthism + addiction to its ideology will push most of them away.

Are the working class addicted to growthism, or are they at the arse-end of the growth economy? Society's addiction to growth is not relevant to many of their lived-experiences which means that it creates a sense of unrelatability. Much of the working class find happiness outside of the growth paradigm because they have no other choice.

1/5 Very powerful - and very true words from @NiallGlynn
“We need to remember that what has been labelled as a "cost-of-living" crisis, I prefer the phrase a survival economy, has only become one when it started to affect the previously comfortable, middle-class and wealthy.”

https://twitter.com/TheWCEG/status/1670824746005479425

2/5 “For those who have always been struggling, it has always been a cost-of-living crisis and will continue to be one…go into any council estate, state school, community centre... pub or high street, and you will see and hear that people have been struggling for time.”

1/4 How should degrowth confront the lack of working class presence and participation in the movement? I’ve written a short piece, and created a space online to talk about class and degrowth, to help bring in more class-perspectives to the movement.
classanddegrowth.wordpress.com/list-of-posts/ 2/4 The working class won’t flock to the movement on the promise of a better life for all and discussions about progressive policy solutions. It just won’t happen – no matter how genuine these promises are.

The #BeyondGrowth #BeyondGrowth2023 has just finished, and the working class has barely been mentioned outside of discussions relating to trade unions - which highlights, yet again, that post growth/degrowth still has no idea on how to approach social class 🧵 1. Yes, trade unions are integral to mass movements and mobilisation. But what about those who aren't in trade unions, or who aren't in work? How can post growth build a movement amongst the most disenfranchised and alienated, which those outside of unions are?