“Movements are the story of how we come together when we’ve come apart.”
― Alicia Garza, The Purpose of Power
We need to fundamentally rethink what it means to live well together. As a wellbeing organisation, we know that people need to have their basic needs met before they can improve other aspects of their lives. But the rising costs of living are already having a devastating impact on people and communities across the UK. They are putting our collective wellbeing in crisis.
At Carnegie UK, we are motivated by making change happen, and learning more about how it happens. And we know that change needs to happen urgently to prevent a catastrophic decline in collective wellbeing this winter, with energy prices predicted to outstrip incomes, rising inflation, food prices, and stagnant wages. Without prompt intervention, many who are already having to make tough choices between food and fuel will be pushed further and deeper into poverty. And it is those already experiencing inequality who will be hit hardest. This is avoidable.
Social change is often built on pillars of disruption, disquiet, difference, and hope. As Alicia Garza – co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Network – describes, creating and sustaining change requires us to connect across multiple and diverse networks. It also requires collective power which can be obtained through social movements and campaigns which get to the heart of what matters to people.
Right now, for millions of people, the ability to afford basic necessities like eating and heating is at risk. It is clear that the cost of living crisis represents the greatest immediate threat to our collective wellbeing. And we are witnessing a growing movement, led by a plurality of charities, community groups, unions and campaigners.
Jack Monroe has become a key spokesperson in drawing attention to the experiences of those on low incomes and living in poverty. Last week, at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, she shared some of her reflections ‘On Self-care and Social Change.’
Earlier this year, Jack used her social media platform to challenge the Office for National Statistics (ONS) approach to calculating inflation rates. She showed that the increase in the costs of basic food products was far in excess of the ONS consumer price index, and that inflation was disproportionately impacting people on the lowest incomes. In doing this, Jack highlighted, again, that what we measure matters and she is currently working with the ONS to develop a ‘Vimes Boots Index’ that more accurately reflects the rising cost of food prices as they are experienced by people at different income levels.
Reflecting on why the campaign has been so successful in grabbing the public’s attention and compelling national statisticians to do things differently, it is clear that this was more than just their (considerable) skill as a cook, writer and communicator. Present in everything that Jack spoke about during an hour-long conversation was her own lived experience and a driving commitment to communicate the experiences of people living in poverty today, whose stories she listens to day-in day-out.
This is an approach that we are noticing more and more, with campaigners like Jack, Martin Lewis and others, acting as spokespeople by sharing stories of the people who are being hardest hit by the cost of living crisis. It is not just a campaigning tool, but a radical act in itself, creating a platform for voices that have too-long been unheard and under-represented.
Seeing these local and national campaigns as part of a broad-based wellbeing movement allows us to imagine what would change under a wellbeing economy. A wellbeing approach would ensure that everyone has what they need to live a good life, as a given. But it would also mean that we hear a plurality of voices and experiences in our national conversations, and that these voices and experiences inform the decisions we make.
Back in the here and now, as Jack reminded the Edinburgh audience, there are serious and immediate threats to wellbeing as we approach the winter, and we must all do everything we can to help those around us. Alongside this, we must campaign for systemic change: it is clear that this movement is already happening, and it’s happening most where people are bringing the voices of those living in and on the edge of poverty to the fore, building our collective power.