- Politicise the regulation of everyday life. We think that the regulation of everyday life is one of the key political questions of our time. The state’s erosion of informal relationships and spaces – in the street, the playground, or the football field – is one of the most worrying developments of our age. We want to make these questions political, to develop a political critique and challenge to the regulation of everyday life.
- Develop a new theory and practice for freedom. One big challenge right now is to develop a new political theory of freedom – a critique of the new dynamic of state regulation, and a justification for free collaboration and thought. Another challenge is to develop more the feel and sensibility of freedom, the spaces of informal collaboration where we can organise together autonomously from the state.
- Create a DIY political space. Some Freedom Summer events will be put together by Manifesto Club organisers – but the summer will also be a space for members and supporters to organise their own events, and to experiment with ways of raising freedom issues and bringing the question to life. This will be an occassion for political experimentation, so we can all learn more about what is possible and desirable.
- Build pan-European alliances. The freedom issues of today affect people from across Europe – in part because of regulation generated by Brussels, and in part because Europe’s elites have the same identikit regulatory mentality. The same rules – the smoking ban, or the regulation of public drinking or free speech – are rolling out across the continent’s political landscape. Yet cross-European political alliances are weaker than ever. It is vital that we start pan-European discussions and campaigns on the freedom issues of our times.