Shared Planet 2007

Rachel Reid

Is student activism dead? 15 of us from Reading Campaigns Forum travelled to Shared Planet in Sheffield last weekend to join 700 students from across the UK for People and Planet’s national conference – we didn’t think so. A selection of over 40 different workshops, talks, discussions on issues of poverty, the environment and campaigning made for an exhausting but exhilirating and fascinating weekend. Meeting other student activists reminded us that we are part of a much wider network striving for social justice. However, what struck some of our group was not only learning of shocking human rights abuses and unjust practices across the world, but realising how little we knew and how little the news reveals. Surely, we thought, suffering and injustice on this kind of level should feature in the news on a daily basis. But it’s not.

Throughout Shared Planet many discussions about campaigning took place, not only in workshops and panel debates but over breakfast, between sessions and in the minibus journey home. Some of these included the questions of whether ethical consumerism was truly ethical, whether violence can ever be justified, why activists seem to be predominantly white middle class, and if student activism was still alive. ‘The media’ seemed to creep into most of these discussions (not, sadly, to film us) as we wondered why activists were always portrayed as tree-huggers or anarchists, and why many issues of life and death, torture, explotitation and malpractice were absent from mainstream media. I, for one, wondered if perhaps as activists we need to ensure that hidden stories are made visible, to recognise the suffering of those involved and start responding to it . In light of that, some of us wanted to share some of what we learnt at Shared Planet:

Stop The Traffik

Big Pharma, Big Profits

The Crisis In The Congo