Enlightenment values and the politics of transformation

Transformation implies renewing the core values of the enlightenment and placing them at the centre of political discourse.

By Open democracy

/ 19 Aug 2013

Moral Mondays: the new face of protest?

"This is no momentary protest. This is a movement. We've been here before, and if slavery didn't kill us, if the oppression of women didn't kill us, surely no weak legislator with 86 votes gonna kill us...instead of defeating us, they've made us defiant."

By Open democracy

/ 14 Aug 2013

Protest politics and the ethical imagination

Protest, like marriage, means re-imagining relations to self and other. The Taksim Square Book Club - in which demonstrators in Istanbul stood silently and read books - used reflection as a riposte to state brutality. The ethical imagination is at the root of this.

By Open democracy

/ 12 Aug 2013

Curing the poison of "rankism"

The cancer of “rankism” persists as a residue of our predatory past. But the urge to dominate others isn’t working any more. Using weapons of mass disruption, the disenfranchised can bring modern life to a stop. Humiliation is more dangerous than plutonium.

By Open democracy

/ 8 Aug 2013

Reclaiming nonviolent history

In conventional histories, violence is generally celebrated. National memorials glamorize death, bloodshed and warfare. This hides a global tradition of nonviolent struggle. This is the third article in our "Transformative Nonviolence" series with Waging Nonviolence.

By Open democracy

/ 1 Aug 2013

Changing sides doesn't always make for transformation — just look at Egypt

What is the best kind of defection? During Egypt's recent turmoil there was too much collusion between nonviolent people power and security forces. Instead, civil resistance campaigns should focus on producing shifts within several different elite groupings. This is the second article in our "Tran

By Open democracy

/ 31 Jul 2013

Both perilous and wonderful? The global transformation of authority

These are exciting times, when authority is being challenged everywhere. But what will replace the old models that have dominated both societies and ourselves? Can our own "collective intelligence" take over?

By Open democracy

/ 25 Jul 2013

What are white folks to do? Some thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case

Amid the outpuring of protest and opinion around the George Zimmerman case it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are some steps for white anti-racist allies to transform feelings into action.

By Open democracy

/ 23 Jul 2013

Welcome to America?

With immigration policy the hottest of hot button issues in America, is it possible to transform the debate? Only by engaging with each other at a much deeper level to create a collective vision of the future.

By Open democracy

/ 22 Jul 2013

Practising mindfulness at the checkpoint

Is caring for ourselves an act of self-indulgence or social change? Alessandra Pigni tests the boundaries of "mindfulness" on the border between Israel and Palestine.

By Alessandra Pigni

/ 17 Jul 2013

Blue Heart

In the wake of the Trayvon Martin verdict, what will it take for racial healing in America? A personal tragedy touches off a powerful meditation on the costs of racism and the transformative effects of listening to each other's stories.

By Open democracy

/ 15 Jul 2013

Elemental Dr Watson?

Michael Edwards explores a new documentary about three people who are confronting environmental degradation in a spirit of transformational activism.

By Michael Edwards

/ 10 Jul 2013

Transforming Politics