The Glasgow Effect by Ellie Harrison

18 the glasgow effect
the way I had chosen to live, I was articulating
what might come next… beginning to reimagine the
society that had left so many in [his] community feeling
excluded, apathetic and chronically ill. 13
By undertaking The Glasgow Effect, I aimed to find out what
happens if you make a stand against the forces of globalisation
by localising your existence; what happens if you attempt to live
a ‘low-carbon lifestyle of the future’ in a city, in a society and in
an economic system with infrastructure and values still stuck in a
carbon-intensive past (this is described in Chapter 7). Two years
on from that intense and stressful experience and 30 since my
first visit to Glasgow in 1988, this book aims to bring together
everything I have learnt in order to provide the complete context
for my thinking and action, which was lost in the whirlwind of
the social media storm (a whirlwind described in Chapter 5).
The book is structured in three parts, each part containing four
chapters. Part 1 – A Brief History of Neoliberalism – provides
the backstory: a personal and political history examining the
way our lives are shaped by wider social and economic forces
often beyond our knowledge or control, and by the privileges
or disadvantages that result from a person’s accident of birth. 14
Part 2 offers a behind-the-scenes insight into the making of The
Glasgow Effect – exploring the many issues the project raised,
including the relationship between art, activism and well-being.
Part 3 sketches out a manifesto for The Sustainable City of the
Future, articulating the action necessary to transform Glasgow
and our other cities into places where we can all live happy,
healthy and creative lives.