What is twrist?

Twrist is the Welsh word for tourist. It reflects the fact that I moved around a lot as a child and have always felt a little like an alien – or a tourist – wherever I find myself. Being an outsider gives a person rather a different perspective on local politics and culture, but it also allows you to see the features that are fundamentally consistent in human nature, and that has inevitably informed my politics and worldview.

Stuck somewhere in immigration limbo between the UK and South Africa, I am passionate about Green politics, social justice and education. In some senses I’m a traditional lefty in that I believe most of our problems boil down to inequality, rather than constructed groupings like race or nationality, but I think the solution to that problem is always going to be empowering communities rather than centralising power. Make of that what you will. In politics as in life, I’m still finding my way like everyone else, and I don’t have a guidebook: a little lost tourist.