Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group

The Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group is one of many groups across the world which support the Zapatistas in their struggle. Our main purpose is to raise awareness of the Zapatista struggle and to give practical help wherever possible. We aim to do this by organising talks, film showings, benefit gigs, street stalls and direct actions as well as publishing articles. We import Zapatista produce such as coffee, clothing and jewelery for sale with the money going directly back to the communities.

edinchiapas.org.uk

Coal Action Scotland

In the face of dangerous climate change caused by human activity, the Coal Action Scotland collective exists to challenge the advancement of coal as an energy source.
We aim to inform people about the dangers posed by new coal, promote alternatives, work with those involved, and directly challenge new coal exploitation from source to point of use.
Coal Action Scotland is part of the Coal Action Network:
The Coal Action Network supports autonomous groups and individuals with information and experience to take collective action against the exploitation of coal. The network aims to organise non-hierarchically and believes that direct action is an appropriate and justified response to the urgency of the climate crisis and the human and environmental costs of coal, problems which governments and industry are unable to solve. The network therefore works with affected communities for a just transition towards a sustainable and coal-free future.

coalactionscotland.org.uk

Jimmy Reid

The Jimmy Reid Foundation has been established in memory of Jimmy Reid and to continue the legacy of radical political thinking his life represented. It is a think tank and advocacy group focussed on practical policy proposals for transforming Scotland which are based on analysis and investigation of the current Scottish and global political, cultural and social situation.

It aims to have a direct influence both on policy and politics and on debate and the media coverage of major issues. It aims to counterbalance the well-funded conservative and neoliberal agendas being pushed in Scotland by big business, business-funded think tanks and advocacy groups and by sections of the corporate media. It aims to raise the public and political profile of alternatives to the profit-driven ideologies which have dominated and to press for better understanding of cultural, intellectual and social issues which are often overlooked in political debate.

And for media, parliament and others it would aim to provide better access to alternative voices capable of arguing for these alternatives. The Jimmy Reid Foundation will bring together voices and minds from across the spectrum of left politics in Scotland – socialists and social campaigners, feminists and anti-racist campaigners, environmentalists and the peace movement.

It will reach out to the SNP and the Labour Party, the left and green political parties, campaigners and academics, artists, thinkers, writers and anyone else who wants to see a fairer, greener, more equal and happier Scotland.

It will provide a neutral space where allies and opponents alike can come together to create new thinking and build alliances on issues where they agree. All the work of The Reid Foundation will be based on a series of underpinning principles drawn from Jimmy's own thinking:

That society should be based on equality and social justice

That people should have the democratic power to influence their workplace and social institutions

That quality of life should be at the forefront of political debateand not an afterthought

That justice can only come from peace and support for human rights

That ideas, learning, arts and culture have the power to transform society and individuals

That all these principles are underpinned by the importance of national identity and a vision for Scotland

The Jimmy Reid Foundation has been set up by the Scottish Left Review Editorial Board - the SLR was Jimmy's last major political project.

www.scottishleftreview.org

Inaugural speech to Glasgow University in 1971 - Jimmy Reid