Not Without Us: Disability Justice, with Heather Fisken, Tressa Burke, and Louise Whitfield

Not Without Us: Disability Justice, with Heather Fisken, Tressa Burke, and Louise Whitfield

EPISODE NOTES In this week’s episode, we speak with disability rights activists Heather Fisken and Tressa Burke and human rights lawyer Louise Whitfield about disability justice, strategic litigation, and the gap between legal rights on paper and disabled people’s lived experiences of inequality in the UK.  Drawing on their work across disabled people’s organisations, community advocacy, policy, and strategic legal challenges, our three speakers reflect on the possibilities and limitations of using law to secure justice for disabled people, the barriers people face in accessing legal remedies, and what meaningful equality and independent living would require in practice.  Heather, Tressa, and Louise share their insights on:  * How disabled people continue to face discrimination across everyday life – including employment, education, social care, transport, access to services – despite extensive legal protections and human rights frameworks  * The multiple barriers to accessing justice, including cost, fear, lack of legal support, inaccessible systems, and legal processes that often fail to deliver systemic change  * Why collective organising, strategic litigation, and closer collaboration between lawyers and disabled people’s organisations are essential to making rights meaningful in the lives of disabled people today  Additional resources for this episode are linked below:  * Want to get involved? Check out Inclusion Scotland's campaigning toolkit Campaign Toolkit - Inclusion Scotland [https://inclusionscotland.org/campaign-toolkit/] and their Justice Hub Justice Hub - Inclusion Scotland [https://inclusionscotland.org/our-work/justice-hub/]    * For more information about the closure of the Independent Living Fund in London and the impact for disabled people there, read this Guardian Article from July 2016, “Disabled people call for return of UK-wide Independent Living Fund” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/13/disabled-people-call-return-independent-living-fund [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/13/disabled-people-call-return-independent-living-fund] Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co [https://lawmanity.pinecast.co] Read transcript [https://pnc.st/s/lawmanity/5011aa81/not-without-us-disability-justice-with-heather-fisken-tressa-burke-and-louise-whitfield/transcript] ----------------------------------------

More Than a Label: Migration Law and Justice in the UK, with Pinar Aksu

Read transcript [https://pnc.st/s/lawmanity/3a8d4cac/more-than-a-label-migration-law-and-justice-in-the-uk-with-pinar-aksu/transcript] ---------------------------------------- EPISODE NOTES In this week’s episode, we speak with researcher, theatre-maker, and human rights campaigner Pinar Aksu about migration justice, hostile immigration law, and the possibilities and limitations of using law to create social change. Drawing on her work in migrant justice campaigning and community organising, and her ongoing doctoral research ‘Art and Law in Migration’, Pinar reflects on how immigration law shapes the lives of people seeking asylum and refuge, the pressures facing those trying to access justice, and what more collaborative, community-led approaches to legal practice can look like.  Pinar shares her insights on: * How over a century of immigration law – from the 1905 Alien Act to recent immigration legislation – reveals enduring patterns of hostile, divisive, and criminalising approaches within UK migration policy * The barriers people face in accessing immigration justice, including legal aid pressures, capacity constraints, miscommunication, and the human impact of increasingly restrictive immigration laws * Why creative practice, grassroots organising, and community lawyering approaches that bring legal knowledge into community spaces, centre lived experience, and build collaborative relationships are essential to creating more welcoming and just communities Additional resources for this episode are linked below: Learn More * Listen to Lawmanity podcast episode “Breaking Barriers: Access to Education for Young Migrants, with Andy Sirel”: podfollow.com/lawmanity/view [https://podfollow.com/lawmanity/view] * Read “Our Grades Not Visas: How community lawyering brought education justice for young migrant and refugee people in Scotland”: https://www.justrightscotland.org.uk/2025/10/our-grades-not-visas-how-community-lawyering-brought-education-justice-for-young-migrant-and-refugee-people-in-scotland/ [https://www.justrightscotland.org.uk/2025/10/our-grades-not-visas-how-community-lawyering-brought-education-justice-for-young-migrant-and-refugee-people-in-scotland/] * Read “Jo Wilding chronicles deepening immigration and asylum legal aid crisis, with failure to recruit staff an ‘existential threat’ to the sector” https://www.ein.org.uk/news/jo-wilding-chronicles-deepening-immigration-and-asylum-legal-aid-crisis-failure-recruit-staff [https://www.ein.org.uk/news/jo-wilding-chronicles-deepening-immigration-and-asylum-legal-aid-crisis-failure-recruit-staff] * Read “Scotland adopts a more inclusive franchise”: https://globalcit.eu/scotland-adopts-a-more-inclusive-franchise/ [https://globalcit.eu/scotland-adopts-a-more-inclusive-franchise/] * Read “Can a Student visa holder sit as a member of the Scottish Parliament? Yes, they can”: https://freemovement.org.uk/student-visa-member-of-scottish-parliament/ [https://freemovement.org.uk/student-visa-member-of-scottish-parliament/] * Check out “#LiftTheBan: Give People Seeking Asylum the Right to Work”: https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/lift-the-ban/ [https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/lift-the-ban/] * Check out Refugees for Justice: https://www.refugeesforjustice.org.uk/ [https://www.refugeesforjustice.org.uk/] * Check out Sistren Legal Collective: https://sistren.co.uk/community-lawyering/ [https://sistren.co.uk/community-lawyering/] Take Action ·      Maryhill Integration Network: https://maryhillintegration.org.uk/get-involved/ [https://maryhillintegration.org.uk/get-involved/] ·      Govan Community Project: https://govancommunityproject.org.uk/get-involved/ [https://govancommunityproject.org.uk/get-involved/] ·      Community Infosource: https://www.infosource.org.uk/get-involved.html [https://www.infosource.org.uk/get-involved.html] ·      Refuweegee: https://www.refuweegee.co.uk/copy-of-about [https://www.refuweegee.co.uk/copy-of-about] ·      Scottish Detainees Visitors: https://sdv.org.uk/join-us [https://sdv.org.uk/join-us] ·      The Welcoming (Edinburgh): https://www.thewelcoming.org/get-involved-the-welcoming-edinburgh/ [https://www.thewelcoming.org/get-involved-the-welcoming-edinburgh/] Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co [https://lawmanity.pinecast.co]

“We’re Going to Have a Party”: Law, Protest, and Social Change, with Lily Greenan

EPISODE NOTES In this week’s episode, we speak with feminist activist, researcher, and former Scottish Women’s Aid Chief Executive Lily Greenan about decades of campaigning on violence against women and girls and LGBT+ rights, the limits of legal reform, and the role of activism in creating social change.  Drawing on over forty years of organising – from rape crisis advocacy and police training in the 1980s, to campaigning against Section 28, to legal reform on domestic abuse and coercive control – Lily reflects on working both within and outside legal systems, and on the importance of joy, solidarity, and collective action in sustaining movements for justice.  Lily shares her insights on:  * Why legal reform alone is not enough to transform the lived realities of women, LGBT+ people, and survivors of abuse  * The role of activism both within and outwith legal systems, and how grassroots organising, public protest, and collective action shaped campaigns against violence against women and girls in Scotland and for LGBT+rights.  * The opportunities and frustrations of working with legal systems, policymakers, and public institutions to create lasting social change  Additional resources for this episode are linked below:  Learn More  * About the Women’s Aid movement through the Speak Out project, hosted by Glasgow Women’s Library: featuring oral history clips [https://womenslibrary.org.uk/discover-our-projects/speaking-out/speaking-out-oral-history-clips/] of women connected to the movement * “Section 28, how it came and went”: A blog post on Section 28, the Scottish Homosexual Action Group (SHAG) and Lark in the Park, by the Equality Network: https://www.equality-network.org/our-work/history/section-28-how-it-came-and-went/ [https://www.equality-network.org/our-work/history/section-28-how-it-came-and-went/]   Take Action  * Find your nearest Scottish Women’s Aid group [https://womensaid.scot/find-nearest-wa-group/]   * Find your nearest Pride 2026 event [https://rainbowandco.uk/blogs/what-were-saying/lgbtqia-uk-pride-events-calendar-2026] Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co [https://lawmanity.pinecast.co] Read transcript [https://pnc.st/s/lawmanity/d79a6f14/we-re-going-to-have-a-party-law-protest-and-social-change-with-lily-greenan/transcript] ----------------------------------------

“Grasping Things by the Root”: Radical Justice and Systemic Change, with Nani Jansen Reventlow

EPISODE NOTES In this week’s episode, we speak with human rights lawyer and author Nani Jansen Reventlow about her new book ‘Radical Justice’ and what it means to confront injustice at its roots.  Drawing on her work in strategic litigation and her reflections in ‘Radical Justice’, Nani explores how systems of oppression are sustained, how the law can both reinforce and challenge them, and why meaningful change requires both imagination and action.   Nani shares her insights on:  * What it means to pursue “radical justice” by addressing the root causes of injustice, rather than relying on superficial or short-term solutions  * The tension between using the law as a tool for change and recognising its role in maintaining existing power structures  * Why activism must operate on two tracks at once: improving current systems while imagining and building entirely new ones  Additional resources for this episode are linked below:  * Buy Nani’s book ‘Radical Justice’ here: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/radical-justice/ [https://www.plutobooks.com/product/radical-justice/]   * Inspired and want to do something about it?  Check out “Take Action” on the Radical Justice website: https://radicaljusticebook.com/take-action/ [https://radicaljusticebook.com/take-action/]   * Want to hear more from Nani and also get 30% off the book?  Sign up to Nani’s newsletter here: https://tinyurl.com/y3v8mfwu [https://tinyurl.com/y3v8mfwu] and follow her other projects here: https://www.nanijansen.org/ [https://www.nanijansen.org/]   Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co [https://lawmanity.pinecast.co] Read transcript [https://pnc.st/s/lawmanity/e66cec7a/grasping-things-by-the-root-radical-justice-and-systemic-change-with-nani-jansen-reventlow/transcript] ----------------------------------------

Redistributing Power: What’s at Stake for Scotland in 2026, with Talat Yaqoob

EPISODE NOTES In this week’s episode, we speak with feminist campaigner, consultant, and commentator Talat Yaqoob about how law shapes power and inequality, and whether it can genuinely deliver justice for marginalised communities.  Drawing on her extensive work across women’s equality, anti-racism, and intersecting inequalities, Talat explores how these dynamics play out in practice, from reactionary decision-making to the lived experiences of those most affected.  Talat shares her insights on:  * How legislation such as counter-terrorism measures can disproportionately harm racialised and Muslim communities * What it would mean to reimagine law as a tool to redistribute power, increase accountability, and create transformative justice * Ahead of the 2026 elections in Scotland, what the next Scottish Government must prioritise in order to address inequalities already embedded in law and prevent the use of law to demonise communities and erode individual rights Additional resources for this episode are linked below: Learn More * Amnesty International, “UK’s Governtment’s Prevent Duty ‘Fundamentally Incompatible’ with Human Rights – Major New Report,” 2 November 2023, https://www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/uk-governments-prevent-duty-fundamentally-incompatible-human-rights-major-new-report/ [https://www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/uk-governments-prevent-duty-fundamentally-incompatible-human-rights-major-new-report/] * Liberty – Protest Rights, https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/fundamental/protest-rights/ [https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/fundamental/protest-rights/] Get Involved * Women Against the Far Right Scotland https://www.instagram.com/womenagainstfarrightscotland/ [https://www.instagram.com/womenagainstfarrightscotland/] * Tax Justice UK & Patriotic Millionaires UK https://taxjustice.uk/ [https://taxjustice.uk/] and https://patrioticmillionaires.uk/ [https://patrioticmillionaires.uk/] * The Justice for Sheku Bayoh Campaign https://www.stuc.org.uk/campaigns-sheku/ [https://www.stuc.org.uk/campaigns-sheku/] Errata: In the podcast, Jen refers to “a legal challenge brought by Liberty against the anti-protest measures set out in 2013 and brought into effect by then Home Secretary Suella Braverman” - this should refer to “2023,” not “2013.” Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co [https://lawmanity.pinecast.co] Read transcript [https://pnc.st/s/lawmanity/30d6ce01/redistributing-power-what-s-at-stake-for-scotland-in-2026-with-talat-yaqoob/transcript] ----------------------------------------