This episode explores health and well-being in the context of human security. Jo and her two guests, Sarah Lasoye and Amaran Uthayakumar-Cumarasamy, interrogate what health security means as a human security concept, whether the UK provides that for all citizens, and if not, why not. 

Check out Prevent Watch (https://www.preventwatch.org/) as mentioned

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In this episode, we discuss the links between national ‘security’ and internal security like policing and border control, as well as highlight the experiences of marginalised communities with these internal security structures. Joanna is joined by Loraine Masiya Mponela ( https://www.noaudienceloraine.co.uk ) a Malawian born and raised currently living in Coventry, UK, a Mother, Migrants Rights Campaigner and Writer. Also, we have Emily Apple, the Media Coordinator from Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

Further information

Loraine is the ex-chair for Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG, 2018-2022 https://www.carag.co.uk ), a self-organised group for and by people seeking asylum and migrants with precarious status. She is also one of the ex co-chairs for the Status Now 4 All campaign ( https://www.statusnow4all.org ). She's the author of "I was not born a sad poet"   ( https://amzn.to/3Z0Edu9 ) a poetry book that gives a voice to asylum seekers whom we usually don't hear from. 

Lorraine also wrote a blog for Rethinking Security about the experience of asylum seekers during the Covid lockdown

Emily mentioned that policing has a history in colonialism. You can find out more about this in CAAT’s Arms Trade 101 webinar series with Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper here. Historian Caroline Elkins is also worth checking out on this. You can also listen to her talk about her work on the Kenyan emergency in 1952 in the Empire podcast.  
CAAT have a page on their website on policing and you can also check out Stop-Watch

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This episode unpacks what happened to social security, both practically and ideologically, and why this has damaged the economic well-being of ordinary people.

Joanna is joined by Katrine Williams of the PCS Union executive, a social security committee rep, and Paul Morrison, the Joint Public Issues team Policy Advisor on economics, poverty and inequality.

Cited Resources

- JRF destitution numbers have increased steadily over the decade to 2.5million in 2020. https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/destitution-uk-2020.

- Public and Commercial Services Union https://www.pcs.org.uk/ - trade union for public servants, including civil servants and government contractors. 

- Joint Public Issues Team - The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church working together for peace and justice. ⁠https://jpit.uk/⁠

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In this episode we explore climate change and food security, why nutrition is essential and why, paradoxically, a human-centred approach to food systems looks quite different to the current, industrial approach.
Joanna is joined by Vicki Hird, Head of Sustainable Farming at Sustain, and Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University. They unpack what kinds of changes need to be made to the way we think about climate and food ‘security’, not least in light of the impact of climate breakdown on the UK and globally.

Cited Resources

Nick Buxton’s work – TNI primer, ⁠The Dangers of Militarising the Climate Crisis⁠,  and ⁠Warrior Nation⁠ podcast, When Everything Looks Like a Nail. 

Sustain’s ⁠campaigns⁠, Vicki’s book, ⁠Rebugging the Planet ⁠(2021), ⁠Perfectly Safe to Eat? The Facts on Food⁠ (2001)

Paul’s book, ⁠Losing Control⁠ (2021 edition)

The Secure and the Dispossessed: How Militaries and Corporations are Shaping a Climate Changed World, (eds) Nick Buxton and Ben Hayes. ⁠https://www.plutobooks.com/9781783717217/the-secure-and-the-dispossessed/⁠ 

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Join us as we explore what human security means and what it might look like to centre human need and well-being in national policy, rather than state security. We journey through militarism, climate change, health, poverty, policing and more as we unpack how the UK government tends to define ‘security’ as the elimination of traditional threats, but neglects to centre our well-being and the safety of the planet.

This new podcast series, hosted by Joanna Frew of Rethinking Security, explores the various components of human security, what this means and how the UK can adopt a more humane, sustainable and inclusive approach to security. In this first episode, Joanna is joined by Aditi Gupta, Director of Policy at Protection Approaches and co-founder of Minorities in Peace and Security, and David Gee, author of Hope’s Work and one of the founders of Rethinking Security. They discuss the differences between national and human security, why traditional ideas about national security remain entrenched at a policy level, why that needs to change and how that might be possible.  

Cited Resources

Lillah’s report - https://rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2023/05/18/thinking-inside-the-box/

Protection Approaches https://protectionapproaches.org/ 

MPS https://twitter.com/MPSintheUK 

David’s book, Hope’s Work: Facing the Future in an Age of Crisis and website https://hopeswork.org/ 

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