Re-thinking politics in the age of networks

How can individuals become more active in the political system? British socialist and feminist Hilary Wainwright will discuss this topic during a public lecture on Thursday, March 15, 7 p.m., George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church St., room ENG103.

Wainwright will talk about voters' growing alienation from politics and explore how individuals can form grassroots movements to reclaim and reshape the political process. She will also draw upon her own international experiences in political affairs and reflect how it relates to municipal, provincial and federal politics in Canada.

Wainwright is the editor of Red Pepper, a socialist magazine based in the United Kingdom. She has also authored books including Beyond the Fragments, Reclaim the State and Arguments for a New Left, and is a regular contributor to The Guardian. She is a member of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute, a think-tank on progressive politics. Wainwright is also a senior research fellow at University of Manchester's International Labour Studies Centre and at the London School of Economics's Centre for Global Governance.

The lecture, sponsored by the Department of Politics and Public Administration, is part of the 2007 Phyllis Clarke Memorial lecture, held in memory of Phyllis Clarke, a former member of Ryerson University's political science department and life-long social activist.