For Decades, The Benefits System Has Been Used To Punish People: It’s Time To Give Everyone A Floor To Stand On
With the third global crisis in six years and the arrival of proper AI, it’s time to try a new way of managing our economies: the case for universal basic income has never been stronger.
How to Fight the Hostile Environment
The Hostile Environment policy was introduced first under the Cameron government in 2012. The idea was to make the process of immigrating to the UK so laborious, so humiliating, and so hostile that people would ‘voluntarily leave’.
Vendor Interview: Olja
My Name is Olja. I’m from Croatia. I’ve been homeless in London since 2018. I came here with my partner in search of a better life, and we did have a job. We were employed for 2 years, and then came Brexit. We lost our jobs, and because we didn’t have the registration for certificates, and some administrative things were not on our side, that’s where the homeless story begins. Thanks to the outreach team, thanks to COVID basically, in a way, the outreach team enabled us to find a place and find hostel accommodation. Then I’m doing DOPE Magazine as well, maybe now for 4 years total, I’m selling the magazines. It helps a lot.
Organising in the arts
“No art without art work-ers!” might not have rolled off the tongue, but an abundance of rhythm and improvisational skill amongst assembled workers, artists, students and activists outside the Tate Britain late last year ensured the truth of the chant was powerfully felt. Huddled in the cold, a ‘Palestine Day’ on the picket line expressed the strength of feeling shared by culture workers across the country. Out on strike for over a week, rage had built against disappearing wages & pensions, mouldy vending machine sandwiches in place of a subsidised canteen, and their employer’s continued relations with companies embedded in the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
Working glass for the working class.
In a DOPE Magazine first, our cover design for Issue 34 is a stained-glass piece. We sat down with Keira McLean in her Glasgow workshop to discuss the artwork and her work.
Public Nusance or public resistance?
As authorities crack down on London's free party scene, the ravers pushing back say that resistance is the point.
One more method of keeping us in line. One more party called Green this time.
For the third time in a decade, the British left has found its saviour. First it was Corbyn. Then it was Corbyn again. Now it's Zack. He's got a rent control policy and a TikTok strategy!
The General Strike:
One hundred years ago, two million workers joined Britain's largest-ever general strike. They faced up not just to their bosses and the government, but also their own union leaders. For over two weeks, this momentous event shook the very core of Britain.