In Solidarity - by openDemocracy

This week on In Solidarity, we're in discussion with openDemocracy's senior investigative reporter and feminist activist, Sian Norris. Sian joins us on the podcast to reveal how recent laws are quietly dismantling the right to protest in the UK.Drawing on six months of in-depth reporting, Sian breaks down the true impact of the Public Order Act 2023 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. These laws allow protests to be stopped before they even begin, based on little more than suspicion.What does this mean for democracy, and who is being targeted? From activists to everyday citizens, no one is exempt. This is a must-listen for anyone concerned about the increasingly authoritarian political climate in the UK -- and around the world.https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/conservative-labour-protest-ban-climate-gaza-just-stop-oil-extinction-rebellion-black-lives-matter/—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics.Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Carla AbreuEdited and produced by James Battershill, Ayodeji Rotinwa & Carla AbreuTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela00:00 Introduction01:51 Why investigate protest?04:56 What are the PCSC and POA?10:28 What's a 'serious disruption'?11:53 Who do these rules target?16:49 We're all 'arrestables' now19:42 Are all protests targeted equally?22:52 Targeting BLM and XR25:56 How does the party of free speech justify suppressing protest?29:25 The carol service crackdown32:28 Why don't Labour 'undo' this?

As a young woman in 1980s Iran, Nasrin Parvaz was arrested, imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian regime. In this moving interview, she shares her experience of torture and incarceration, reflects on the successive women's revolutions in Iran, questions the West's ideas of regime change, and offers a powerful call for global sisterhood.http://www.nasrinparvaz.org/web/tag/https-www-victorinapress-com-product-one-womans-struggle-in-iran-a-prison-memoir/Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy Senior Investigations reporter Sian Norris, author of Bodies Under Siege. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Presented by Sian NorrisEdited and produced by James Battershill, Ayodeji Rotinwa & Carla AbreuTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. opendemocracy.net/newslettersIn Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by James Battershill, Ayodeji Rotinwa & Carla AbreuTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela00:00 Introduction01:19 Being a female prisoner in Iran during the 80s04:33 Stolen Trauma05:59 A friend still imprisoned09:11 Those who paved the way12:32 The resistance lives on16:35 What's next for Iran's women?18:16 Global Sisterhood20:40 Hubris of the west23:27 Torture's global supporters25:57 Hopes for the future of Iran28:00 What does solidarity mean to you?

For many years, politicians have sold the public a simple story: The answer to undocumented immigration is a strong, fortified border. This story has a seductive, common-sense reasoning — but it is also wrong. Decades of research has shown that people determined to move, find a way to move. And when States respond with border controls, people turn to smugglers to circumvent these controls; and on and on this cycle goes with increasingly militarised borders on the one hand, and increasingly desperate people on the other. But politicians don’t want to engage with this research, when it is much more politically palatable to spend billions buying shiny technology from private corporations to prop the myth of strong borders. Our guests today have published research that shows the UK government has spent over 3.5 billion pounds in public money to support a sprawling, almost entirely privatised, apparatus to stop desperately vulnerable people from using small boats to cross the English channel and apply for asylum in the United Kingdom.Listen in to learn moreThis research was part of the collaborative Channel Crossings project who are Dr Arshad Isakjee, Dr Thom Davies and Dr Tesfalem Yemane, Dr Lucy Mayblin and Dr Joe Turner. We would like to thank Corporate Watch and Tipping Point UK in supporting this work. Here is a link to the initial report: https://channelcrossings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/border-security-contracts-briefing.-april-2025.docx-1-1.pdfTo find out more about the border security economy see here https://corporatewatch.org/category/companies/ and here https://www.tni.org/en/publication/financing-border-wars—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by James Battershill, Ayodeji Rotinwa & Carla AbreuTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela00:00 Introduction03:30 The manufactured border crisis06:30 How to understand borders11:20 The economic migrant 'myth'15:09 The Borders industrial complex18:08 Technological underpinnings22:20 Investigating surveillance contracts25:09 Companies profiting from war and refugees28:25 We're all complicit

Community organisers around the world have long argued that to change a country, canvas a community. But is that really true? In this episode, we catch up with someone who literally wrote the book on the subject. Our guest George Goehl started organising in a soup kitchen in Southern Indiana 30 years ago in the Clinton era and continues to do so in the time of Trump. Listen in to understand how to fight effectively for change and why immigration is such a divisive issue. The Fundamentals Of Organizing - George Goehl —Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by James Battershill & Ayodeji RotinwaTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela00:00 Introduction01:18 How to George get into community organising05:37 The state of rural America08:12 Can community organising go national?11:45 Recharging for the fight ahead12:45 The public opinion of migration16:30 AD - The World Unspun podcast17:55 Progressive meekness21:31 Meaning making23:37 How progressive are Democrats really?25:54 Political vs Community organising28:55 Tangible change34:01 Tales from the doorsteps36:55 What does solidarity mean to you?

The already fraught relationship between the United States and South Africa has been put under even more strain with Donald Trump's decision to cut foreign aid, not to mention South Africa's case against Israel at the ICJ.Menzi Ndhlovu, a political economist and risk analyst at Signal Risk a risk analysis consultancy focused on Africa, joins us to discuss this critical moment for South Africa.—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy’s Africa Editor, Ayodeji Rotinwa. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by James Battershill & Ayodeji RotinwaTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela00:00 Introduction02:51 South Africa's support for Palestine09:19 The street that caused a geopolitical issue14:06 How the ANC has changed16:26 Trump's issues with South Africa22:10 Musk's issues with South Africa24:10 Is the US trying to bring South Africa to heel?28:00 How can South Africa appease the US?31:30 Is there an upside to the rift with the US?34:28 South Africa's moral quandary

Danny Sriskandarajah is the author of Power to the People: Use your voice, change the worldSriskandarajah discusses the shift from a positive phase of civic engagement to a reversal over the past decade, emphasising the importance of community networks beyond state and market fixations. He highlights the role of civil society in nurturing democracy and the need for international solidarity. Sriskandarajah shares personal experiences from his childhood in Sri Lanka and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, underscoring the power of collective action and the interconnectedness of global issues.—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by Nandini Archer, James Battershill & Ayodeji RotinwaTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela

Borders patrolled by AI-powered robotic dogs once seemed like something purely in the realm of dystopian sci-fi novels. But the border industrial complex is working hard to make them a part of our (still dystopian) reality. Petra Molnar, author of The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, joins us to discuss the militarization of border technologies, the racial politics of migration and the complexities of being both a refugee and an economic migrant.Petra is a lawyer and anthropologist specializing in migration and human rights. She is the co-creator of the Migration and Technology Monitor, a collective of civil society, journalists, academics, and filmmakers interrogating technological experiments on people crossing borders.—In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by Nandini Archer, James Battershill & Ayodeji RotinwaTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward AbelaFeaturing audio clips from NowThis, TVO Today and ParliamentTV00:00 Introduction01:39 Why Petra you write The Walls Have Eyes?07:00 The theatre of surveillance08:55 The history of the politics of migration11:47 Racial politics and migration14:37 AI's roll in policing borders18:43 How do we decide who is 'worthy' or migrating?20:09 Is Trump creating a new type of migrants?22:00 Defining a refugee in the modern age24:08 Petra's experiences in Israel and Palestine27:28 The death of physical borders29:19 How can we resist?

Something strange is happening in Germany. Last year, the Alternative for Germany or AFD, as it scored, became the first far right party to win a state election in Germany since World War Two. Then in February this year, the AfD came second in Germany's national elections, with 20% of the votes.The AFD isn't just another populist right wing party. Members of the party have consistently downplayed the horrors of Nazi Germany. What is happening?Georg Diez, journalist, writer, and author of a Tipping Points: From the promises of the 90s to the crises of the present joins us to discuss how he believes we're witnessing the birth of a new form of far-right politics and should prepare ourselves accordingly.—Get our independent journalism delivered direct to your inbox, join the openDemocracy Newsletter today. In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.Credits:Presented by Aman SethiEdited and produced by Nandini Archer, James Battershill & Ayodeji RotinwaTheme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward AbelaFeaturing audio clips from CSPAN, Diem 24, Institute For Policy Studies00:00 Introduction01:23 What's going on in Germany?05:30 The global financial crisis and the rise of the far-right08:12 Right-wing extremism in modern Germany12:01 Is fascism the right word?15:27 What hope do we have for the future?