[Posting this because, amusingly, the Hutt C/S site hasn’t been updated in aaaaages]

At a time when Tunisians and Egyptians are taking to the streets to overthrow governments these citizens see as corrupt or dictatorial or undemocratic, New Zealand citizen protest and activism is in decline and has been for several decades now.

Other citizens around the world quite literally are risking their lives to deliver a message that they believe in. New Zealanders on the other hand would prefer to write a sternly worded letter.

What has brought about this decline?

What does a decline in activism mean for New Zealand?

Does this apathy flow into other elements in our society?

Have New Zealanders become consumers rather than engaged citizens?

Discuss these points with Dr Sandra Grey who in 2008 won a Marsden grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand to research the role of social movements in democracy. Sandra’s research centres on the participation of groups and representation in a healthy democracy.

Dr Grey is the spokesperson in the campaign for MMP and was a Senior Lecturer at Victoria University, where she taught social and public policy. Sandra has recently become the National President of the Tertiary Education Union.

Thursday 24 February at 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Wholly Bagels, Myrtle Street, Lower Hutt

Supported by: Industrial Research Ltd, GNS Science, Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch, Wholly Bagels and Hutt City Council