EG-2021-1112-NEWSLETTERDownload

Dear comrades and colleagues of the European Group

Dear friends 

We hope this month’s newsletter finds you well. We continue to work in strange times – we know some of you are in countries which are now going back into ‘lockdowns’ again, others continue to face uncertainty and Covid related restrictions and controls. Where you are reading from, we hope you are keeping OK. 

As some you should know, we struggled accessing the European Group mailing list and email for almost two months – ironically – as a security threat…

This was finally resolved last month and so we have now been working on responding to emails, gathering information for the newsletter and updating the website. Alongside this, we held an exceptional AGM online which was well attended (see section 1) and have the minutes for you to read through below. Most notably, we have now fully moved to Policy Press with the journal, which was outlined by Jon Burnett and will have a double launch next year, which is very exciting.

It was exciting to hear the first Working Group conference went underway and sounded fantastic – many thanks to Andrea for organsing. If you were not able to attend, you can live vicariously through Andrea’s outline in section 3.

This year, the three of us were due to pass the coordinating baton to new colleagues. Some attendees highlighted that as this remains a difficult time and since we cannot yet be in person, coordination was voted to continue as it is with us three, and include support with Simone Santorso and Vincenzo Scalia before we reconvene next year (more on that in the minutes). We have agreed to do so – it is a privilege to work with you all – and hope we can continue doing (at least) a decent job at it! We are also keen to encourage more engagement with WG Coordinators and Country Representatives, so more on that going forward.

There are increasingly significant fronts we are all working on across the Group – increased police powers, border related abuses and other serious concerns for civil liberties. Thanks again to all who raised points on these, and do keep us informed of what is happening at local and national levels so we can support the EG Collective.

Finally – as you will see below, there is great news for two EG members – Ragnhild Sollund and Valeria Vegh-Weis. Congratulations on astounding achievements and contributions to critical thinking!

Many thanks to all who contributed this month – keep well, in solidarity, 

Take care all – in solidarity,

Vicky, Dani and Katja