About Us
Rattlecap: noun. An unsteady, volatile person; a madcap: generally said of a girl.
The Rattlecap was born in 2018 by a group of University of Edinburgh students who wanted to create a space where activism and radical thought were central and accessible. Our monthly editions, centered around a chosen theme, bring together creative writing, politics, history, education, art, and advocacy.
We value voices that are underrepresented in today’s narratives; voices that show a perspective that examines, challenges, and radically reimagines the society that we live in. We hope that The Rattlecap can become an intersectional forum for discussion and change, and a thought-provoking, kind, and empowering space.
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Our Manifesto:
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In an effort to keep The Rattlecap as a catalyst for discussions that resist the
resurgence of the far right, we have laid down the basic values which reflect our
origins and our future ambitions:
1. We stand steadily against marginalisation, oppression, and colonisation in all
of its forms, past and present.
1.1 We recognise the rights of indigenous peoples to land and natural
resources.
1.2 We resist Zionist ideologies and unwaveringly ally with the Palestinian
struggle for homeland and the efforts of all colonised peoples.
2. We reject all and any feudalistic archaic ideas and power structures derived
from cruelty and domination, including but not limited to:
2.1 The monarchy, the police, our conservative government, the prison
industrial complex and all systems surrounding.
2.2 White supremacy and its poisonous lasting effects on racialised bodies
which only upholds systems of orientalism and imperialism.
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3. We staunchly reject attempts to strip away the right to bodily autonomy in all
its forms and the merciless reduction of the human body to capital profit:
3.1 We condemn the British Government’s militarised attack on transgender
liberation and the safety of transgender and Queer individuals in a
supposedly democratic state.
3.2 We fight for the right to abortion, the right to gender-affirming care,
3.3 We stand against the calculated ableist attacks on disabled bodies.
4. We stand against the ravaging and detrimental impacts of capitalism, which is
attacking our planet and its people, as it prioritises corporate triumph over the
human development.
5. We encourage and excitedly await the introduction of new ideas, criticism to
current ideologies, and lively debates with a diversity of opinions as we look to
create a space that provides an outlet for how to navigate our current political
landscape.
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Anyone can write, edit, and illustrate for us - just get in touch!
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Meet the team:
Editors-in-Chief Orane Bissada-Bloch and Angus Lees Miller
Current Affairs Editors Maya Pearson and Emily Martin
Arts & Culture Editors Samara Watts and Erin Cullinan
History, Philosophy & Education Editors Sage Setty and Erin Cullinan
Creative Writing Editors Lola Weisselberg and Kaja Kubickova
Illustration Coordinator Yury Aleksanyan
Social Media Secretary Gaia Smedts
Secretary Yu Ching Law
Treasurer Emily Martin
Senior Writer Lola Weisselberg
Welfare Officer Dishari Bose
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therattlecapmagazine@gmail.com
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