Young Quakers to explore politics
Young Friends General Meeting to hold a conference in August
Young Quakers are planning to explore politics and activism at a weekend gathering in London this summer. The event, aimed mainly at Quakers aged 18-40, will take place at Westminster Meeting House on the second weekend in August.
Jessica Metheringham-Owlett, one of the organisers, told the Friend that several young Quakers had come up with the idea after noticing how much time they spent discussing politics. The event is backed by Young Friends General Meeting and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.
Speakers will include Catherine West, the leader of Islington Council, who will focus on local government. Sam Walton of Quaker Peace & Social Witness will lead a session on the politics of protest. Other speakers and workshop leaders include Ian Chamberlain, on Israel-Palestine, and Ian Goggin and Kristin Skarsholt, on the ‘Equal Love’ campaign.
‘We’re not going to come out of this with a list of twenty bullet points,’ explained Jessica. ‘There are some issues we know we don’t agree on.’
While some participants will already be very involved in campaigning or party politics, organisers are keen to stress that the gathering is open to young Friends who ‘don’t feel they have expertise but have a real interest’.
Comments
I’m glad to see that there will be something about local government, and I hope it will emphasis that local government is *not* a branch of Westminster, but a completely seperate entity in itself. In recent years local politics has rapidly followed a descending spiral of campaiging on *national* issues in *local* elections. A frightening number of people are now voting in *local* elections for or against the person they want to be Prime Minister of the UK, egged on by politicians and campaigners.
By jgharston on 26th July 2012 - 11:04
Please login to add a comment
