On the 4th March 2016, European Alternatives / Talk Real held a discussion on the United Kingdom’s upcoming referendum about continued membership of the European Union.
About the debate:
The UK referendum on EU membership, coming up on the 23rd June, will be a historic occasion, providing, as it does, the first opportunity for British citizens (and Irish and Commonwealth citizens living in the UK) to decide whether or not they wish to stay in the European Union 
.
It is, then, a European moment, and one which comes at a time when the very question of what the Union should and could be is being hotly contested across the continent. Should the EU simply be a single market or should it strive for social aims, for transnational democracy and peace?
In this episode, Talk Real discussed the wider context surrounding the British vote with:
Ulrike Guérot – Founder and Director of the European Democracy Lab and Lecturer at the European University Viadrina
Federico Campagna – Writer, Philosopher and Rights Manager at Verso Books
Niccoló Milanese – Co-President of European Alternatives
Marina Prentoulis – Senior Lecturer of media and politics at UEA, Member of Syriza London and Spokesperson for Another Europe Is Possible
James Schneider – Leading Organiser of Momentum and ex-Editor in Chief of Think Africa Press
About European Alternatives:
European Alternatives is a transnational civil society organisation and citizen’s movement, promoting democracy, equality, and culture beyond the nation state.
They act in the belief that the most urgent political, cultural and social challenges of our time can no longer be understood or dealt with at the national level and that, at the same time, existing forms of technocratic global and European governance are neither democratic, just, nor fair. Thus, they state that new forms of transnational collectivity must be fostered to give citizens democratic control over their future.
They believe that the emergence of real democracy in Europe is not only about institutions, but also, and especially, about constructing effective transnational practices of participation, solidarity and cultural invention. And, they assert that the current inability of citizens and civil society to co-ordinate action across national borders leaves space for non-democratic forces to dictate our politics.
They stand for the principle of solidarity and see in both current political institutions and dominant economic models the causes of rampant inequality. In contrast to existing institutions, they seek the imaginative resources required to create new forms of transnational communities in culture and the arts.
You can find out more about European Alternatives on their own website: https://euroalter.com/
If you are already convinced by what you have seen and heard here, then you can head straight to their action page, where you can find out how to get involved yourself: http://action.euroalter.com/
About Talk Real:
Talk Real is the European Alternatives’ new internet-based talk show. Recordings for Talk Real are realised in co-operation with Piroetta productions and a wide network of activists and provide the platform for in depth discussion of radical perspectives. The show is directed by Berardo Carboni, a cinema director and one of the early occupiers of the Teatro Valle Occupato, and seeks to create an opening to a world, transformed by the tensions and energies that run through our societies. Talk Real is currently looking to build a wide alternative media network to participate in and to disseminate its programmes –current participants include openDemocracy, the Italian daily, Il Manifesto, the online activist magazine, ROAR, and the spotlight on eastern European activism, LeftEast.
You can view all of Talk Real’s broadcasts on their YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ9vnyjjj0cJ7Ij7cXVkdpw
Related articles:
By the speakers / about the topic
By the speakers:
- Exit Europe: situating the UK referendum in a wider European context by Niccoló Milanese
- Europe: The reconstruction of the Free World by Ulrike Guérot and Robert Menasse
- After Greece’s defeat, we need a new European movement against austerity by Marina Prentoulis
- Europe as a republic by Ulrike Guérot
- Politics is changing, whether the gatekeepers like it or not by James Schneider
- The EU is a first step Jamie Mackay interviews Federico Campagna
About the topic:
- Wake up – Britain is heading for Brexit by Gideon Rachman
- The EU is on the verge of collapse Gregor Peter Schmitz interviews George Soros
- The case for Europe Donald Tusk in conversation with Michał Matlak
- Bagehot interviews Will Straw about campaigning for the Britain Stronger in Europe
- Why are EU elites treating Brexit differently to Grexit? by Szilárd István Pap
- EU referendum: what are the main arguments for and against leaving the European Union? by Jennifer Williams
- On Brexit, gender, age and political party are no guide as to how we’ll vote by Simon Jenkins
- Support for leaving the EU likely to be overstated in polls, analysis suggests by George Arnett and Alberto Nardelli
- The remain campaign needs to stop assuming the referendum’s in the bag by Rupert Myers
- EU referendum: 250 business leaders sign letter backing Vote Leave by Tom Mendelsohn
- Support for EU membership ebbs in Britain as Tories row by Guy Faulconbridge and Kylie Maclellan
- Let’s fight on our terms, not the EU’s by Enrico Tortolano
- Referendum, what referendum? by Bagehot
- EU referendum: Brexit fears “hit home” – and, perhaps, the economy
- An enlightened localism Ullrich Kockel in conversation with Tomas Kavaliauskas
