Potter-Powell, Charlotte

Potter-Powell, Charlotte

Charlotte Potter-Powell

31 December 2013Review

Pluto Press, 2013; 264pp; £17.99

What does a book about therapy have to do with the peace movement?

Psychological difficulties and their treatment are often thought of as a personal and humanitarian issue, as apolitical. Paul Moloney disagrees; he argues that much of the unhappiness treated by therapists is the result of living in relative poverty, powerlessness and inequality in a consumer society.

These problems demand collective social…

1 October 2011Feature

Charlotte Potter-Powell examines the purpose and effect of solidarity actions at Dale Farm as the barricades rise higher around the Travellers’ site in Essex.

As I write, we are on the eve of a last-ditch high court judgement on the long road to eviction at Dale Farm. At a time of great tension, outside activists like myself are deeply committed to resisting the eviction, yet in the media and in parts of the wider Gypsy and Traveller community, divisions have opened between direct activists and those pursuing legal approaches to preventing the eviction.

When I first visited Dale Farm, I asked myself whether activist visitors’ efforts to…

1 September 2011News

Hundreds of Travellers face eviction.

Dale Farm in Essex is the UK's largest Travellers' community. They have been fighting for ten years to remain there but now 500 people face eviction from 31 August. The Conservative-led Basildon council has set aside £18 million for an eviction, while supporters have set up a solidarity camp at the site.

There are mostly Irish Travellers at Dale Farm where many have lived for 30 years. They own the site but were refused planning permission because the land, a former scrap-yard, is…

29 August 2011Blog

Charlotte Potter-Powell reports on the solidarity day at Dale Farm on 27 August

Dale Farm in Essex is the UK’s largest Travellers’ community. The residents have been fighting for ten years to remain there but now 90 families of 500 people, many of them children, face eviction from 31 August. The Conservative-led Basildon Council has set aside £18 million for an eviction which could take weeks, while supporters have set up a solidarity camp at the site.

The community at Dale Farm are predominantly Irish Travellers and many have lived there for 30 years. They own…