About RIC

RIC is a non-party-political organisation, which focuses on issues-based campaigning. It does not stand or endorse candidates, and it welcomes activists from all parties and none.

Founding Principles. 

We stand for a Scotland that is:

  • For a social alternative to austerity and privatisation
  • Green and environmentally sustainable
  • A modern republic for real democracy
  • Committed to equality and opposition to discrimination on any grounds
  • Internationalist and opposed to war, NATO and Trident
How We’re Organised.

Autonomous Local Groups are the heart of RIC, in cities and towns around Scotland, from Inverness to the Borders. Local groups organise themselves as they wish, and are united by the five principles above. National decision-making power rests with local groups, who make proposals for national action and strategy, and send delegates with their views to National Forums every six to eight weeks.

Day-to-Day Tasks are handled by coordination teams, made up of members chosen by local groups. Teams can be contacted via secure, privacy-aware RiseUp e-mail lists. If you e-mail the list, each person on the team receives the message.

  • Secretarial Team: ricssec@lists.riseup.net
  • Facilitation & Events Team: ricsfac@lists.riseup.net
  • Finance & Fundraising Team: ricsfin@lists.riseup.net
  • Promotions & Media Team: ricsmedia@lists.riseup.net
  • Safer Spaces Team: ricssafe@lists.riseup.net

National Working Groups organise and campaign around specific issues. Any RIC members can take part. They also have RiseUp e-mail lists:

  • Social Justice & Austerity: ricssjaa@lists.riseup.net
  • Sustainability: ricssustain@lists.riseup.net
  • Democracy: ricsdemo@lists.riseup.net
  • Equality & Anti-Discrimination: ricsequal@lists.riseup.net
  • Internationalism & Anti-War: ricsinter@lists.riseup.net
  • Creative: ricscreate@lists.riseup.net
  • Land Reform: ricsland@lists.riseup.net
  • Anti-Fracking: ricsfrack@lists.riseup.net
  • Anti-TTIP: ricsttip@lists.riseup.net
  • Radical Economics: ricsecon@lists.riseup.net
  • Conference Organising: ricsconf@lists.riseup.net

Teams and groups will soon have their own areas on the website. For now, if you want to get involved, please contact the secretarial team (ricssec@lists.riseup.net) to be added to the relevant e-mail list.

National Constitution.

Our constitution was designed to be as non-hierarchical as possible, spreading power in a truly radical way. It was developed through local and national discussions over several months in 2014-15, with ideas from local groups across Scotland. It was ratified at our AGM on 28 March 2015.

The full text of the RIC constitution can be found here, and soon we’ll have interactive graphical representations of our structures here on the site.

On Privacy and Security.

We believe in keeping people’s data safe and secure. Our mailing lists are run by riseup.net, an activist collective that is dedicated to privacy and data security, and this website is hosted on 1984, a company based in Iceland with similar principles. We will never share your information with anyone, and people are welcome to sign up to the e-mail list or sign up for membership using a pseudonym (or no name at all).