We want to increase our capacity to advance socialist ideas in a fast-changing Scotland.
Our politics is in crisis. The Scottish Government is melting-down, but no opposition party represents the needs of millions of Scots.
To meet the challenge of this period, we want to expand Conter’s coverage. For years Conter has developed a uniquely critical view of Scottish affairs. Across hundreds of articles, podcasts, events and much more, we’ve been unafraid to challenge the establishment in Scotland. In doing so we’ve anticipated many of the crises which have burst into the open this year.
This has only been possible through defending our independence. We’ve refused to tailor our views for partisan politicking, culture war polarisations, individual careerism or easy answers to the complex problems we face.
Our contributors and editorial board members are almost all unpaid volunteers. We do what we do, and say what we say, because we believe it. In recent months we’ve launched Conter Radio – with radical expertise on Scottish politics, economics and class struggle. We’ve brought socialist voices from around the world to Scotland – including Noam Chomsky and David Harvey. We’ve published anti-war, anti-establishment and pro-working class perspectives that won’t be found anywhere else. We have also organised in-person public meetings to share our ideas.
Until now, we have never made a public appeal for funds. We are launching a fundraising campaign now because we believe this is a crucial time. We want to upgrade Conter for the challenges of this coming period, so we can make a real impact on events and strengthen the Scottish socialist movement. Naturally we have no business, state or grant funding – the political nature of what we do precludes it. We can only achieve our aims with your support.
If we reach:
£1000 per month we will organise an annual John Maclean lecture and day school, bringing together experience and perspectives from socialist activists across Scotland and from struggles abroad. We want to build the event into a yearly restatement of Scotland’s socialist traditions, and a recommitment to apply those traditions to contemporary Scotland.
£2000 per month we will hire a full-time editor to increase our range of coverage, articles, podcasts and events. We achieve a lot by voluntary effort – but we could multiply that with an editor who can dedicate their time to creating a comprehensive coverage of Scottish affairs.
£3000 a month we will create a professionally produced, long-form podcast series investigating the story of the 2014 independence referendum and movement and aftermath. We want to speak to the big players as well as the little-known activists who cohered one of the largest working class mobilisations in Scotland for decades. This will be the untold story of the movement, bringing Conter’s anti-establishment analysis to a broad public and competing with establishment accounts on the 10 year anniversary.
We will provide a range of ways you can contribute financially, but what will most help us expand is a regular subscription via Patreon. This will give us the stability for longer-term planning and investment in far-reaching projects. It will also give you access to the Conter community, with exclusive events, forums and content.
Thousands have been involved in our lectures and forums, reading groups and educational projects, and our articles, podcasts and videos have reached far more. If you cannot make a financial contribution, we are looking for writers, and people with ideas to expand the project. Everything you contribute will go to expanding the audience for anti-establishment ideas and building the capacity for a socialist politics in Scotland.
