Organic Radicalism in Scotland

By way of half-way interlude in my serialised article 'The false red flag', I'd just like to announce a real-life event coming up.

On Thursday May 30, 2024, from 7.30pm, I will be giving a talk in the Scottish capital on 'the Organic Radical tradition'.

The evening, organised by Common Knowledge Edinburgh, is free to attend, although people are asked to sign up in advance for their place.

For anyone unfamiliar with the organic radical concept, the orgrad website explains: "In broad terms, organic radicalism is a political ideology deeply opposed to the modern industrial world.

"Its vision of human society is based not on money, greed and authority but on mutual aid, freedom and community; a way of living which would restore humankind’s well-being and its harmony with the rest of nature".

Or, in the words of W.D. James in his latest essay on the Winter Oak site: "The Organic Radical school of thought hinges on the possibility of an organic social order which, in turn, provides the basis and motivation for radical critique and revolutionary change.

"We might like to think that an emergent natural order will just happen. In a sense, it does; in the same sense that a plant just grows or amoebas just divide. However, when the natural process involves humans, it also involves choices and that means that what just happens might not happen if people don’t choose it—unlike other species, humans can choose to act against nature and against their species nature".

The main feature of the site is the A-Z of thinkers section, feauturing profiles of more than 90 men and woman whose philosophies feed into the overall organic radical outlook.

Anyway, I will be talking a lot more about all that on May 30, when there will also be plenty of time for questions.