Community engagement II: ultra-local political work
Posted by Left Luggage on July 29, 2009
We’ve previously mentioned the work of Pleasley Hill People’s Network, a group set up near Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, which aims to build organisation and political involvement in a small area of this former mining community.
There’s now a podcast of an interview with Mark Jones, who initiated the group, online here and it is interesting to hear of the challenges this group has faced setting up, the issues it is attempting to tackle, and how it plans to go about this.
Mark mentions the lack of any form of self-organisation in the area previously, a situation replicated in many areas of the country and one that the Left could be focusing on addressing. We wish Mark and the group much success. The long-term political dividends of this kind of work – if initiated on a wide scale – should be obvious.
Matt Wardman said
Thanks for the article and reference – I appreciate it.
Mark Jones said
As do we!
history tells us things said
There is now certainly a growth in pro-working class networks, organisations: IWCA, Ipswich Unemployed Action, LCAP, Class Crisis, (albeit from small beginnings) plus a variety of single issue groups: schoool closures, etc, perhaps soon a conference of some kind could be facilitated.
Dave Semple said
God save us all from conferences. At such a low level, a better idea would be to set up an online network of the more active councillors who could provide advice on dealing with local councils, up to and including good electoral tactics.
Duncan said
Bit quiet on here isn’t it? You lot given up?