What does it take to reconfigure our traditional capitalist economic structures so that people, communities and the environment come before profit? That’s the question at the heart of the wellbeing economy movement and the subject of today’s episode. Gerard McCartney practiced as a GP and trained as an economist before his current role as Professor of Wellbeing Economy at the University of Glasgow. Gerry’s work explores the connections between health outcomes, community, and our working and living environments. Gerry and Anne talk to Dr Katherine Trebeck, a political economist and wellbeing economy advocate who co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. Katherine has been at the heart of the wellbeing economy movement in Scotland and explains the changes that governments and organisations can make to enable a different, more sustainable economic model. And Gerry travels to the east end to see just how successfully the wellbeing economy can work in practice. He meets Babs and Leigh from Green City Wholefoods, one of Glasgow’s longest running workers’ co-ops, where each member of staff earns the same salary, shares the profits and decisions are taken collectively. For more information: https://katherinetrebeck.com/ https://www.greencity.coop/ https://weall.org/scotland https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/gerardmccartney/
How do you build community after the criminal justice system has removed you from society to serve a prison sentence? Today’s episode of Recovering Community explores the work of Vox Liminis, a unique organisation, set up to find creative answers to questions about crime, punishment, reintegration, and community. Vox is for people who have all kinds of experiences of criminal justice; from children with parents in prison, to academic researchers and social workers. It hosts a number of projects from its base in Glasgow’s Gallowgate, and in prisons across Scotland. Anne Kerr meets 3 lynchpins of the Vox community; Fergus McNeill, Alison Urie, and Iain, to learn about the ways that creative work, embracing difference, and mutual support build the bonds of community, and the foundations for a life beyond prison. Learn more about Vox Liminis here https://www.voxliminis.co.uk/ Listen to Vox’s latest podcast ‘The Art of Bridging’ here https://www.voxliminis.co.uk/media/?t=podcasts
The 400 mile long Río Atrato is in the Chocó department of northwest Colombia. Chocó is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country. It’s also one of the poorest, and the river provides essential transport and economic opportunities to the residents. In today’s episode, Anne Kerr meets her colleagues Mo Hume and Allan Gilles, and artist Jan Nimmo to hear about the project Colombia River Stories. This interdisciplinary research project, which is a collaboration between the universities of Glasgow, Portsmouth and Nottingham, combines art, song, citizen science and activism to respond to the court ruling T-622, which recognises the River Atrato as a bearer of rights. The ruling demands actions to address the socio-environmental devastation of conflict-linked, illegal mechanised gold mining in the collective territories of Chocó’s Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities. The project supports the local communities as they push for the full implementation of T-622 in the face of an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region.
The way we control our borders and treat those who want or need to cross them says so much about our national identity. And for the last 25 years, the U.K. Government has - with significant public support - moved to make immigration as difficult as possible. But in contrast, the Scottish government has been more focused on encouraging migration to Scotland to address population decline and contribute to the Scottish economy. This episode of Recovering Community begins with the Kenmure Street Protest, when community resistance to a Home Office raid resulted in the release of two men back into their neighbourhood. Anne Kerr talks to Teresa Piacentini, David Millar, Pinar Aksu and Cetta Mainwaring to consider the ways that community activism in Glasgow sets the city apart from wider UK sentiment towards immigration.
For this first episode of Recovering Community, we’re focusing on Moodiesburn, a former mining town about eight miles north of Glasgow. Moodiesburn was home to the Auchengeich colliery. The danger of mining left its mark on the area. 6 men died in an explosion in 1931. And then, in 1959, the community was struck by disaster when there was a fire in the mine. It claimed the lives of 47 men, and Auchengeich became one of the UK's worst mining disasters of the 20th century. But during the miner's strike of 84 and 85, striking miners and local people put up a memorial to commemorate the disaster, and they come together each year to mark the anniversary. To find out more about how the community has recovered from tragedy, deindustrialisation, and austerity, Anne Kerr and Jim Phillips visit Auchengeich Miners Welfare Club to meet Pat Egan, Willie Doolan, Ian Lowe and Danny Taylor. Together they drive much of the community activity to commemorate the mining disasters which are marked annually on 18th September. With thanks to the Auchengeich Miners Welfare Club. Thanks also to staff in the School of Social and Political Sciences and the College of Social Sciences who helped with this project. All the songs featured in this episode were written by Bill Adair. They have been taken from the album ‘Along The Miners’ Rows’ by Bill Adair and the Bridgend Sessions Band and are used with kind permission. Jim Phillips is author of Scottish Coal Miners in the Twentieth Century, published in 2019. Community is also strong theme in Coal County, Ewan Gibbs’s 2021 book on deindustrialisation and memory in Lanarkshire. Recovering Community is produced by Freya Hellier.