The series will look at modern day legal frameworks that exist such as terrorism law, human rights law, hate crime and more and investigate whether they are fit for purpose. Conversations will cover counterterrorism, national security, civil liberties and the criminalisation of solidarity.

We will bring together organisers, thinkers and academics for a weekly discussion to cultivate community knowledge building. The hope of the series is to play a part in the building an antiracist movement in Britain ready to agitate and organise for justice; and not justice for some, but justice for everyone.

This event is co-organised by Pluto Books and Abolitionist Futures. All attendees can use AF30 to receive a 30% discount on all books here.

Register to attend here

The Webinars will be as follows:

27th Jan – Abolishing Surveillance

From Schedule 7 to Spycops and Prevent to the Hostile Environment, this webinar will cover some of the elements of the surveillance apparatus that exists in modern Britain and move us to discussing how we build a movement to abolish it. Speakers include Minnie Rahman (JCWI), Eveline Lubbers (Undercover Research Group), Asim Qureshi (CAGE) and Johanna Kellett-Wright (DocsNotCops). This session will be chaired by Hajera Begum from Abolitionist Futures.

3rd Feb – Criminalisation of Solidarity

Recent years have seen an increasing arsenal of legislation and policing powers to be used against trade unionists, student activists and all those who dissent. Within this we see a clear pattern wherein solidarity itself is criminalised. Speakers include Mel (Stansted 15), Liz Fekete (Institute of Race Relations), Elif Sarican (Kurdish Assembly), and Kevin Blowe (NetPol). This discussion will be facilitated by Shelly Asquith from Stop the War.

10th Feb – The Future of our Civil Liberties

From the Overseas Operation Bill and Spycops Bill to multiple securitised lockdowns; there seems to be no light on the horizon for mobilising on our civil liberties which have been increasingly under attack. The erosion of our civil liberties is not a Tory project since Brexit rather a decades long process under different political parties. This webinar will assess the terrain on which we find ourselves and offer ideas on how we move ahead. Speakers include Asad Rehman (War on Want), Sam Grant (Liberty), Eda Seyhan (COVID State Watch) with further speakers to be confirmed. This session will be facilitated by Ilyas Nagdee.

17th Feb – Justice Means Everyone

This final webinar will cover justice in many incarnations including justice for workers, those in incarceration and those participating in behaviour which has been criminalised. It will also aim to re-centre the importance of international justice returning to the fore of our politics and abandoning patriotism, progressive or otherwise, in the pursuit of justice. Speakers include Dalia Gebrial (Novara), John (Prisoner Solidarity Network), Imani Robinson (TalkingDrugs.org) and Professor Laleh Khalili (QMUL). This session will be facilitated by Lola Olufemi, from whose book, Feminism Interrupted the title of this webinar series is taken.

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