ReTheZine: the cure for inaction

This is a guest post by Kat Wall, content editor of ReTheZine, part-time masters student and full-time idealist.

THE TITLE OF THIS GUEST POST WAS MODIFIED ON 5 NOVEMBER 12:57PM TO AVOID DISABLIST LANGUAGE: APOLOGIES TO ALL WHO FELT OFFENDED BY THE ORIGINAL WORDING.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Mead)

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When we open a newspaper or read a news site, the news always seems to be depressing. The financial crisis is making more and more people unemployed. Climate change is happening at a rate we can’t turn around. A third of the world’s population is at war. And the richest 2% of the world’s population own more than half of all global assets in a time when inequality is growing.

But instead of getting lost in this depression, a small group of young people in London decided to set up a zine called Re. Where others only condemn, Re exists to express a thoughtful critique and explore viable alternatives to injustice, inequality and our unsustainable society. By providing a dynamic and creative space, this new zine offers a platform to explore ideas for the future through polemic, narrative and art.

‘Re-Start’ is the first issue of this new zine, launched only a couple of weeks ago. A year on from the beginnings of Occupy, we take stock of where the radical movement is heading. Kym Beetson explores the ideas of the Global Suffragette Movement who demand global democracy as a means to achieve global justice for the 99%. Greta Levy takes a look at spaces for political action between protest and the polls and comes up with some innovative ideas for how to get involved and make a difference. Our first contribution for the reviews section comes from Tom Cutterham who looks at those on Twitter and the blogosphere across the pond and what they have to say about moving the radical movement forward. Portia Roelofs starts our Radical Calendar series with a smattering of events, discussions and activities across the capital in October and November 2012.

As well as the print issue, which will be published every two months, we have also launched a blog to bring together interesting and innovative ideas to challenge the world’s problems and generate a discussion on a diverse range of topics from technology to resistance, how to reconnect and cooperate to how to reconstruct the world around us. A mixture of new content and curated content from other like minded people across the world, this site will also be a space to learn about free (or nearly free) events across the capital, upcoming projects that the zine will be working on. Each printed issue can be downloaded from our webiste.

The purpose of Re is to raise awareness about many challenges we face as a society and to generate and collate interesting and alternative ideas in response. We are always looking for new contributions from artists, photographers, storytellers, poets, political essayists and budding journalists, so if you would like to get involved email kat[at]rethezine.com.