This project collaborates with Geeks for Social Change to explore the possibility of a Nuke-Free Manchester. We’ve started collating information on the arms trade in Manchester, from details of University of Manchester arms investments to Manchester vendors at the DSEI arms fair in London. There’s a range of partnerships and initiatives set up in Mcr to support this expansion in both defense and adjacent industries like cybersecurity. This pivot is currently expanding through the fabric of the city, with groups like BAE placed center stage in regional marketing. What is the flow of people, arms, industrial strategy, materials, research, money, power, corruption, and real estate that makes this possible? Where are the companies creating these harms based, and how do we expose them? And how has this changed from the Nuclear Free Manchester of 40 years ago to the Yes Please More Nuclear of today? We’d like to use this project time to develop a greater understanding of the extent of the arms trade, perhaps culminating in an exhibition, visualization, database, walking tour, or campaign.
