Gee, Tim

Tim Gee

Hitler could have been stopped – by the pacifists who resisted the First World War

2 November 2018Blog Tim Gee

If British peacemakers of the early twentieth century had been listened to, we could have avoided the rise of many destructive movements.

Each year, around Remembrance Day, people all over the UK uphold the memory of those who have died in war. Some people wear red poppies to remember allied soldiers. Others wear white poppies to remember civilians and soldiers killed in war and to express their hope for a culture of peace.

This year, the St John Ambulance volunteer first aid group announced it would…

It’s time for Sanctuary Everywhere

1 February 2018Feature Ann van Staveren and Tim Gee

Quakers commit to welcoming migrants

Plaque in Linnet Lane, Liverpool Photo: Rodhullandemu via Wikimedia Commons

Over a series of meetings last year, Britain’s Quaker community discussed its experience of welcoming newcomers to these shores. Over 51 Quaker Meetings have pledged to become ‘Sanctuary Meetings’, based on a threefold commitment to build a culture of welcome, to challenge racism in all its forms and to change the law.

Quakers are taking action both locally and nationally. They are working in…

It’s about time the British had an identity crisis

21 July 2016Blog Tim Gee

A member of the 'Jilted Generation' sees five factors re-shaping young people's sense of national identity....

In the wake of the June referendum result, newspapers of right and left are reporting that Britain has an identity crisis. As the demographic breakdowns of who voted what show, we are deeply divided in our attitudes, by class, by region, by nation, by colour, and by age. While it's possible that some of these differences can be explained by people's varying assessments of the pros and cons of alternative constitutional frameworks,…

'You cannot be free if you are poor'

1 October 2013Feature Tim Gee

A glimpse at a grassroots nonviolent revolutionary movement in South Africa, as the country approaches the 20th anniversary of the end of political apartheid

Press, supporters and passers-by stop to hear South African president Jacob Zuma at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto.photo: Marcela Teran

With Nelson Mandela’s illness earlier this year, the eyes of the world’s media looked to South Africa. More specifically they looked to a single building in South Africa – Pretoria’s Mediclinic Heart Hospital, host to a man who more than any…

This is just the beginning

18 April 2012Blog Tim Gee

'Counterpower: Making Change Happen' author Tim Gee reflects on his UK tour and Gandhi's social movement maxim.

I haven’t seen a lot of my house recently. For most of the last four months I’ve been on the road (or rather the rails) visiting different towns and cities to run workshops and seminars looking at the methods adopted by movements for change. I tend to begin by asking people to shout out the tactics they see as central to why the movement succeeded in ousting Mubarak in Egypt. The differences in the responses have been remarkable.

For a group of students in Manchester, social…