The World Transformed

The World Transformed (or TWT) is a political festival which takes place in September, at the same time as the Labour Party conference.[1][2] Beginning in 2016, organisers describe its purpose as "to create a space in which ideas can be freely exchanged and collectively developed".[3][4]

The World Transformed festival in 2018

Background

Matt Zarb-Cousin and journalist Ash Sarkar at The World Transformed 2017

The festival was created with an aim of bringing together the activist and intellectual parts of the left together, and was inspired by the Dialectics of Liberation Congress held in 1967 which took place at the Roundhouse in London.[5] It was originally organised by the left-wing campaigning organisation Momentum, though is independent and still receives support.[6][7] Some of the festival's original organisers were Andrew Dolan, Joseph Todd and Sasha Josette.[3][8][9] With the first festival in 2016, Todd said he wanted the presence of the festival to take over the city it was happening in, much like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[8] Voices in the media, such as Guardian columnist Zoe Williams, had echoed its similarity to the Edinburgh fringe festival and labelled it "a festival of ideas".[10] Through this festival, discussions around political education and municipal socialism – considered by the New Statesman's George Eaton to have been previously dormant – were said to be revitalised.[11]

The second festival in 2017 based in Brighton was successful, incorporating 9 different venues and had between 5,000 and 8,000 attendees. The organisers considered incorporating the Brighton Dome into the festival.[9][5] In 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn endorsed the festival, describing it as "a powerful new space on the Labour Party conference fringe for people to debate policies, exchange ideas, and expand our political horizon with arts, music and culture."[12][13] The attendees were largely young people who had previously taken little interest in party politics before the election of Corbyn as Labour leader in 2015 and were coming together to discuss how to build on Labour's advances in the 2017 general election.[14] Its development has led to delegates from left-wing organisations and parties from across Europe and the USA.[15]

Following the 2018 World Transformed event, many local events not directly organised by Momentum or TWT began to emerge. The events have been seen to foster political education, active participation, skills training, critical thinking and intellectual curiosity.[16][17] Whilst some are one-day events, others such as the events in Bristol and Birmingham are multi-day festivals.[18]

The 2020 festival will take place online as a pay what you want festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that has ensued. It will spread over the entire month of September rather than compress to four days as normal.[19][20][21]

List of events

Date	Location	Guest Speakers	Music performers	Notes
September 2016	Liverpool	–	–	The first festival was hosted at the Black-E arts and community centre.[22] Conversations at the first TWT led to a series of "Take Back Control" events being organised for 2017.[8] Jackie Walker, Momentum's then vice-chair, caused controversy as she suggested Holocaust Memorial Day only commemorates the Jewish victims.[23] She was suspended from Momentum and the Labour Party.[24]
September 2017	Brighton	Jeremy Corbyn (as key-note speaker)[4] Attila the Stockbroker, poet[13] John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor[12] David Harvey, Marxist political economist and geography professor[5] Naomi Klein, author, social activist, and filmmaker[13] Ken Loach, director[12] Paul Mason, journalist and activist[5] George Monbiot, Climate activist and journalist[25]	Anthony Anaxagorou[13] Boudicca[13] Horse Meat Disco[13] The Native (Jordan Stephens from Rizzle Kicks)[13] Shay D[13] The Soweto Kinch Trio[13] Rum Committee[13]	The festival hosted over 5,000 attendees with events in 9 different venues.[5][12] The venues include Synergy Centre, Komedia and Fabrica.[13][9] There was a stand-up comedy performance from Ava Vidal and a art display from Kennard Phillips.[26] In October 2017, Labour MP Clive Lewis was criticised for language used at a fringe event of the conference in which he told the actor Sam Swann to "Get on your knees, bitch!". Swann later described the incident as "jovial".[27]
September 2018	Liverpool	Jean-Luc Mélenchon (as key-note speaker)[28] Jeremy Corbyn[29] Paul Darke, disability activist[30] Katja Kipping, leader of Die Linke[29] Chantal Mouffe, political theorist[29] Ralf Stegner, Social Democratic Party of Germany leader of the opposition in the Schleswig-Holstein region.[29] Zitto Kabwe, leader of Alliance for Change and Transparency[29] Ash Sarkar, journalist and editor of Novara Media[29] Faiza Shaheen, prospective Labour Party candidate for Chingford & Woodford Green and economist[29] Bonnie Castillo, executive director of National Nurses United[31]	–	The venue chosen had a capacity for 10,000 attendees.[2] Momentum had banned journalists from The Sun newspaper from having access to the festival due to its reporting of — and subsequent lack of apology for — the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster.[1] One of the events hosted by TWT was a "Radical Bus Tour with Dan Carden". Carden, the MP for Liverpool Walton, gave a bus tour covering the key locations of protest, struggle and social progress in Liverpool.[32]
September 2019	Brighton	Adriana Alvarez, prominent activist in the Fight for $15 movement[33] Diane Abbott[34] Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement (via video link)[35] Jeremy Corbyn[36] James Butler, co-founder of Novara Media[37] Ken Loach, director[34] Maya Goodfellow, writer and academic[34] Ash Sarkar, editor and co-founder of Novara Media[34] Hilary Wainwright, editor of Red Pepper[34]	–	Over 5,000 people attended the festival which used 10 different venues,[38] including setting up a hub in the Old Steine Gardens.[34] Several Labour MPs hosted sessions as part of the "Radical Variety Show": such as Ed Miliband as a gameshow host, John McDonnell spinning a wheel of public ownership and Diane Abbott acting as an agony aunt.[39] The festival trialled its own "policy labs" during the festival, leading to the organisation compiling these ideals and publishing a "Manifesto for the Movement".[40][41][15]
September 2020	Online	Diane Abbot, Labour MP and member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG)[6] John McDonnell, Labour MP and member of the SCG[42] Ilhan Omar, US Democrat Congresswomen and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus[6] Ash Sarkar, editor at Novara Media[42] Rashida Tlaib, US Democrat Congresswomen, member of the Progressive Caucus and Democratic Socialists of America[42] Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communications Workers' Union (UK)[42] Rafeef Ziadah, poet and human rights activist[42]	–	Due to the lockdown, the festival was completely online and took place over a month, during which dozens of events took place.[7] A revitalised Left Book Club provided a reading group guide during the festival.[43] Transatlantic strategy for the left was a big topic of conversation,[44] with one segment including a conversation between Ash Sarkar, Diane Abbot and Ilhan Omar.[6] There was also sessions that covered issues such as Black Lives Matter to rights of tenants in the private rented sector.[7]

List of locally organised World Transformed events

• Bristol (Started in 2019)[16][45][46]
• Birmingham (Started in 2019)[18][47]
• Derby (Started in 2018)[16][48]
• Nottingham[11]
• Oxford (Started in 2019)[18]
• Southampton (Started in 2019)[49][50][17]
• Wandsworth (Started in 2019)[16]

References

1. Matt Honeycombe-Foster (19 September 2018). "Momentum bans The Sun from The World Transformed festival over coverage of Hillsborough disaster". Politics Home. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
2. Allegretti, Aubrey (23 September 2018). "The World Transformed: How Momentum festival is challenging for the 'mainstream' Labour conference". Sky News. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
3. "It's not a distraction – The World Transformed is part of Labour's renewal | LabourList". LabourList | Labour's biggest independent grassroots e-network. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
4. "Momentum's The World Transformed festival is almost fun". iNews. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
5. Yohann Koshy (28 September 2018). "What we saw at The World Transformed". New Internationalist. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
6. Cowburn, Ashley (17 September 2020). "US congresswoman Ilhan Omar to address Labour activists at Momentum-backed event". The Independent. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
7. Burnell, Emma (21 August 2020). "The World Transformed in a world transformed". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
8. Julia Rampen (25 November 2016). "Momentum's The World Transformed to launch "Take Back Control" Brexit events". New Statesmen. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
9. "Momentum building in Brighton as grassroots group goes mainstream". The Guardian. 24 September 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
10. Williams, Zoe (26 August 2020). "Keir Starmer's conference challenge is to avoid the shadow of past leaders | Zoe Williams". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
11. Eaton, George (4 December 2019). "Inside Momentum: "We're going to be here long after Jeremy Corbyn and I are dead"". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
12. "Ken Loach and John McDonnell to headline Momentum's politics festival The World Transformed". New Statesman. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
13. Ben Bailey (23 August 2017). "The World Transformed, 23th–26th September". Brighton Source. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
14. Khomami, Nadia (25 September 2017). "'People are using the word socialism': Momentum activists hail a world transformed". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
15. Seb Cook (26 September 2019). "Review: The World Transformed 2019". RS21. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
16. Sabrina Huck (4 June 2019). "Lessons from organising The World Transformed in our community". Labour List. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
17. Solomon Hughes (7 June 2019). "See you at Southampton Transformed". Morning Star. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
18. Saltmarsh, Chris (1 September 2019). "Building socialism: Political education for the many". Bright Green. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
19. Burnell, Emma (21 August 2020). "The World Transformed in a world transformed". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
20. Jafri, Kulsoom. "The World Transformed 2020: Normal wasn't working. Let's shape the future". LabourList. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
21. Worsdale, Hope (10 August 2020). "The World Transformed is back – and it's never been needed more". Retrieved 27 August 2020.
22. Ewen MacAskill (22 September 2016). "Labour & Liverpool: the city that reveals the cracks in the party". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
23. Ashley Cowburn (29 September 2016). "The World Transformed: A look inside the Momentum movement that helped secure a second Corbyn victory". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
24. "Labour suspends Jackie Walker over Holocaust comments". The Guardian. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
25. "George Monbiot: How we get out of the wreckage caused by neoliberalism". The Independent. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
26. Nathan Akehurst (27 September 2017). "Why The World Transformed is the future of British politics". Huck magazine. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
27. Khomami, Nadia (20 October 2017). "Labour MP Clive Lewis apologises for 'get on your knees' comment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
28. Angelique Chrisafis (23 September 2018). "Jean-Luc Mélenchon to speak at pro-Corbyn event in Liverpool". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
29. Rodgers, Sienna (8 August 2018). "The World Transformed reveals full line-up ahead of Labour conference". LabourList. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
30. "Labour conference: Fringes hear call for ideas on how to resist years of oppression". Disability News Service. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
31. Ameen Kamlana (8 February 2019). "I'm a GP. To stop NHS privatisation, we need a global healthcare movement". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
32. David Singleton (21 September 2018). "Labour conference 2018 – guide to the biggest and best fringe events". totalpolitics. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
33. Josiah Mortimer (26 September 2019). "McStrike Movement: How retail worker walkouts are leading wage changes". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
34. Ben Smoke (26 September 2019). "What we learned from The World Transformed 2019". Huck magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
35. Aamna Mohdin (20 September 2019). "Palestinian activist to miss Labour conference as visa delayed". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
36. "Labour party conference: Pledge to scrap education watchdog Ofsted". BBC News. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
37. Juliet Jacques (2 October 2019). "The World Transformed 2019: How to Rebuild Socialist Culture". frieze. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
38. Laura Parker (26 September 2019). "Conference showed Labour is ready to win and transform the country". Labour List. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
39. Aamna Mohdin (26 September 2019). "Mojitos with Diane Abbott: Labour's fringe parties on". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
40. "Outrage won't work. Only a people-powered movement offering radical change can defeat Boris Johnson". The Independent. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
41. Rabyah Khan (1 October 2019). "Transformative policy-making means listening to the 'average' person". Labour List. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
42. "TWT Opening Rally: The Struggle for a Socialist Future" (PDF). The World Transformed. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
43. Barry, Robert (5 September 2020). "The Quietus | Features | Tome On The Range | Radical Reading List: The Past & Present Of The Left Book Club". The Quietus. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
44. Guinan, Joe (15 September 2020). "In and against, and outside, the party". Red Pepper. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
45. Gavin Cordon (28 June 2019). "Bristol MPs join calls to sack Chris Williamson from the Labour Party". Bristol Post. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
46. Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins (1 April 2019). "Let's harness the power of political education". Red Pepper. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
47. "Three-day political festival of ideas set to takeover Brum this weekend". I Am Birmingham. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
48. Lewis Bassett (1 October 2018). "How to organise a local World Transformed style event". Retrieved 2 July 2019.
49. Sam Hatherley (10 June 2019). "Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonell has Southampton on his radar". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
50. Tom Williams (31 May 2019). "End the Oppression of Pedagogy! Why Southampton Transformed matters". New Socialist. Retrieved 2 July 2019.

External links

• Official website