[OccupySheffield] Schumacher conference Leeds Feb 11/12

[Anna Harris]

 Hi everyone,

This is to give you advance notice of the *next Schumacher North
Conference, to be held over two days on Saturday and Sunday 11th and 12th
of February at the Swarthmore Centre in Leeds.
*
The title of the conference is *"As if People Mattered"* (Schumacher's book
Small is Beautiful was sub-titled Economics as if People Mattered - a title
which is clearly relevant in these times of financial greed and corruption
alongside austerity measures imposed on the majority, and ever-accelarating
descent into ecological devastation and seeming expendability of human life
and welbeing).
We are living in critical times, both frightening and potentially exciting,
and we're witnessing - and participating in - a whole range of responses:
large-scale resistance to political repression and to austerity measures in
many countries, the global Occupy movement and attempts to build
participatory democratic processes, local community projects and practical
work linked to the Transition Towns movement, etc. One natural response to
all this is confusion: where best to put our time and energy, how to
reconcile contradictions and tensions between different movements and
strategies, whether to work in, on or against existing political
institutions, and what of the numerous ways in which we oppress each other
along lines of social, cultural and personal difference as well as economic
inequality?

The conference will aim to provide space for addressing some of these
questions, by bringing together people with a range of perspectives and
approaches, to constructively explore differences and commonalities, expand
our thinking and, most importantly, to begin (and continue) work which will
be ongoing to develop solutions and help build connections between
different movements for change. We'll try as far as possible to provide
plenty of time for discussions to be pursued in more depth and to be more
connected/strategic than at previous conferences (where we've tended to
have a range of projects and ideas presented individually to different
interest groups). *We'll get a draft programme out as soon as possible in
the New Year, but in the meantime welcome comments, suggestions and offers
of help/participation. *
**
I'm attaching a flyer which I would encourage everyone to circulate amongst
all their networks.

NB. Regarding costs - we are doing this conference on a shoe-string, partly
out of necessity, but also because we want to get away from the ethos of
fund-raising for big-budget events and instead encourage particpants and
supporters to make their own decision as to how or whether they wish to
contribute. We're not spending money on printing, but please feel free to
help by printing and distributing flyers if you have the resources to do
so. Also, entry to the conference is free, but as we have been donated the
space for free by the Swarthmore Centre people may wish to support them by
giving a cash donation.  Other ways to help would be by contributing to a
fares pool for people travelling from outside Leeds, and by offering a
space to sleep for people who need it, so that we can keep the event
financially accessible. *Please let us know if you will be requiring a
space to sleep*.
* *
*It would be great to know roughly how many people will be attending: for
booking and further inquiries, please email **
schumachernorth-info at riseup.net* <schumachernorth-info at riseup.net>
Ellen has 1 file to share with you on SkyDrive. To view it, click the link
below.


<https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=c9987d3739ffe085&page=view&resid=C9987D3739FFE085%21161&parid=C9987D3739FFE085%21123&authkey=%21AOLGpPDh3dbE48k&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&Bsrc=SkyMail>
SN
final draft.doc<https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=c9987d3739ffe085&page=view&resid=C9987D3739FFE085%21161&parid=C9987D3739FFE085%21123&authkey=%21AOLGpPDh3dbE48k&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&Bsrc=SkyMail>Please
let us know if you would be interested in leading a discussion about Occupy
at the conference.

Anna
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