WHY after?

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WHY after? *

Our ‘business as usual’ politics have proven unfit for the challenges of the 21st century. Each year, we watch as inequality grows, wages stagnate, and our prospects of owning a home or starting a family become ever more distant. When the system works for us, it’s at the expense of others; behind the smokescreens of ‘growth’ and ‘prosperity,’ we see wealth built on exploitation, wars waged in our names, and the natural world pushed to the brink of collapse.

This status quo has passed its sell-by date, and It is our responsibility to claim a stake in what comes after.

Our generation has the passion and potential to salvage a future worth fighting for. what we lack are positive visions for change and bold, alternative proposals.

We created after as a space for accessible education and radical optimism. When knowledge is power, we strive to make understanding a common right, lest The terms of our future be set by out-of-touch experts and unaccountable politicians.

If you:

  • Are fed up with the state of politics and worried about the future - but aren’t sure what we can do about it

  • Want to expand your understanding of the political and economic challenges facing our generation, both in the UK and across the world

  • want a space to meet new people, debate with expert guests, and find solidarity in a growing young community

Then AFTER MIGHT JUST BE for you.
Come see what we’re about - we look forward to meeting you!

Our Principles

  • We will not be gaslit into accepting that things can continue as usual on a planet wracked with preventable war, inequality and on the verge of ecological collapse. After doesn’t preach a fixed vision of how that future should look — our events are designed to explore that fertile space — but the necessity of real change is central to our worldview. 

  • Just as we believe things must change, we also insist that they can. We reject the notion that our current political reality, for all its flaws, is the best we can realistically achieve. This lazy resignation does not come from a lack of real alternatives, but a sustained death of political imagination—a death most convenient for those who continue to profit off current arrangements. Pathways to brighter futures are all around us — in academia, art, history, traditional knowledge, and our own imaginations. The task of making them a reality is a political challenge, and one we refuse to let defeat us. 

  • Our all is international, rejecting visions of wealth at home predicated on exploitation abroad. Our all recognises class, never afraid to question the material interests behind political ideology. Our all is intersectional, acknowledging the shared and distinct struggles of women, ethnic and religious minorities, indigenous communities, disabled people, gay, queer and trans people. Ideas at After are held to this standard, and subject to fair critique and scrutiny on these grounds. 

  • After is not a debate club where the aim is to ‘win’ a given argument. Different perspectives can spark discussion and disagreement, but we are allies, not competitors. None of us have the final answer to any challenge we address, and all of us have a stake in solving them. Come with an open mind, and expect others to hear you out with the same respect.

  • There is no room at After for racism, misogyny, homo/transphobia, ableism or bigotry of any kind. All are safe and welcome at our events and in our community, and we have zero tolerance for any speech or action that would prevent that.