On 19 October, around 70 academics, activists, campaigners, and others concerned about recent militarisation in everyday life in the UK came together in London for an information-sharing and networking conference, organised by ForcesWatch. The aim was to allow academics and activists to share their work and ideas, through a series of presentations and discussions and discussions, and to develop ideas for to raising public debate and encouraging critical thinking on the issue.
Topics explored included: the military and young people, militainment, militarism and the body, the military and local communities, security, privatisation, and the experience of veterans.
A strong point that came across was that these everyday practices have a global resonance: the normalisation of military approaches leads to military violence being seen as a commonsense response to conflict.
The last session explored how activists, academics and others can work together to raise awareness and take action, and there were some excellent ideas on non-military alternatives (eg the Woodcraft Folk rather than the cadets), and ways in which to collaborate more – from talking more to veterans, to publishing work and stories on more accessible media such as blogs and videos.
Topics: Anti-militarism