Tuesday 11th April, 4pm-6pm
The Lantern, Hamish Wood Building, Glasgow Caledonian University
Roundtable organised by the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health and the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University with the Poverty Alliance.
Following the global financial crisis and the subsequent austerity measures, the influx of refugees from Syria and migrants from across the world, and the vote by the British electorate to leave the European Union, this is a period of deep political uncertainty and humanitarian crises. Public spending cuts have been accompanied (and justified) by an intensification of discourses distinguishing between those portrayed as ‘deserving’ and those who are ‘undeserving’ of public sympathy and welfare support.
At the same time, and in contrast to the rhetoric and measures which divide the ‘deserving’ from the ‘undeserving’, there has emerged a variety of organisations and movements across Europe which act in solidarity with the unemployed, disabled people, migrants and refugees seeking asylum. This solidarity is expressed various ways – from practical assistance with everyday needs to political protest – and reflects a counter movement to reactionary and xenophobic social, economic and political forces.
Building on data from the EU Horizon 2020 funded project ‘TransSol’ (Transnational solidarity at times of crisis), this roundtable provides an opportunity for academics, policy makers, practitioners and activists working in Scotland, the UK and at European level to discuss these opposing tendencies of solidarity and social division, and reflect on their implications for policy, research and practice.
Organised by the Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health and Poverty Alliance