Zarinah Agnew, UK

I am a neuroscientist and run two non-profits - one that builds community homes where humans can self-organise (District Commons), one that studies the emergent behaviour in these homes (Social Science Observatory). Together these projects build and explore alternative human social arrangements that serve the underserved. My work is motivated by the need for community in those most alienated from one another. Kinship cannot be bought nor provided, but have to be built slowly and over time. When people are given space to build lives together, solidarity emerges organically.

We are working to ameliorate the devastating impacts of mass incarceration by building self-determined communities and homes with formerly incarcerated individuals returning from life sentences in prison. This manifests as physical spaces, social events and outreach.Transitional housing is not a new concept. What is different about these community houses is that they are self-determined and are run by the people who inhabit them. In a deeply segregated society, these houses, which are a mix of returning lifers and non-formerly incarcerated individuals, are deeply diverse places of integration where wildly different life experiences come together around the dinner table to forge life long relationships.