What's liberation got to do with it?

Veteran activist Urvashi Vaid on being a utopian in the 1970s, and how gay rights prevailed over liberation politics. Part of Transformation's liberation series.

By Open democracy

/ 10 Jun 2014

What if the LGBTQ movement fought for prison abolition instead of same sex marriage?

"There are lots of poor people who have been convinced that this is the way forward by a bunch of upper class gays that have rammed it down everybody’s throats." Part of Transformation's liberation series.

By Open democracy

/ 4 Jun 2014

Stephen Sutton and the politics of the deathbed smile

In the political economy of modern dying, Stephen's Sutton's death from cancer - wrapped up in cheery charity fundraising - made headlines, while the worst ever Turkish mining disaster went under the radar. Part of Transformation's liberation series.

By Yasmin Gunaratnam

/ 2 Jun 2014

When is civil society a force for social transformation?

There are more civil society organizations in the world today than at any other time in history, so why isn't their impact growing?

By Michael Edwards

/ 30 May 2014

Liberation in the age of the hashtag activist

Under austerity we tweet #bringbackourgirls from the safety of our laptops: anything else is naive. Liberation means the comprehensive dismantling of hierarchies, but few movements talk about it today. An introduction to Transformation's liberation series.

By Open democracy

/ 20 May 2014

I was arrested 75 times: how violent policing destroys mental health

Police harassment drove me into hospital. Why aren't we questioning their tactics? This is the final article in Transformation's series on the politics of mental health. Content warning.

By Open democracy

/ 14 May 2014

Can disruptive power create new social movements?

Explosive short-term mobilization and long-term organizing are both important to social transformation. When, where and how will new social movements emerge in the future?

By Open democracy

/ 13 May 2014

Listening to the Buddha: how greed, ill-will and delusion are poisoning our institutions

When politics and economics are based on the worst aspects of human nature, societies become riddled with inequality and violence. All institutions mirror the motivations that make them work.

By Open democracy

/ 12 May 2014

Panic and the city: I thought I was dying two or three times a week

There was no apparent trigger to my panic attacks, they were caused by the capitalist city itself. Part of Transformation's politics of mental health series. Content warning.

By Open democracy

/ 9 May 2014

Brought together by the Keystone Pipeline fight, "Cowboys and Indians" heal old wounds

As Native Americans and ranchers work together to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, they're also learning to understand each others' history, culture, and relationships with the land.

By Open democracy

/ 6 May 2014

The struggle to defend La Famantina is forever: how social movements in Argentina are close to changing history

In La Rioja, Cordoba, Corrientes and elsewhere, activists are defending what they hold in common. In the process, they are also transforming their relationships with one another.

By Open democracy

/ 30 Apr 2014

Have they healed yet? Western dreams about Rwanda

Shattered societies cannot be mended with pills or analysis or technology or foreign aid. Our need to hear that Rwanda is ‘healing’ tells us more about ourselves than it does about Rwanda.

By Rebecca Tinsley

/ 25 Apr 2014

Transforming Politics