Republished from Suresh Fernando:
(see also his text on Re-Occupation 2.0)
“A movement is a social phenomenon. As such there are no limits to what can be organized, who can participate and how they can participate. In virtue of the absence of constraints, there is a much greater opportunity to scale participation than through traditional organizational structures.
It is a response to something deeper within the community/nation that represents an affront to our collective identity, the result of which is to galvanize people towards action. Its structure and resultant actions are, therefore, highly unpredictable. It represents, if you will, a wave (or series of waves) of intent and activity.
The power of a movement lies, in large part, to its unpredictability. The uncontrolled fury that is unleashed serves to give those in power cause for concern. There is no locus for activity… and therefore no real way that they can put a stop to it. Movements are a result of the collective consciousness of historical forces… and the sense that the time has come…
Solidarity … the highest principle in a movement …
The highest principle in a social movement is the idea of solidarity… the decision to stand together even in the face of particular differences. In acting in solidarity with others we recognize that we are a part of a singular struggle and we acknowledge with respect the unique struggle of those with whom we stand. In standing with indigenous leaders that are fighting against colonization, even if we are environmental activists, we recognize the legitimacy of their struggle and how it is connected to ours.
Solidarity can be difficult simply because it takes time and effort. We need to organize our group and participate in actions that don’t provide us with visibility. We are not the ones making the speeches and getting the attention that day… It is much easier to be complacent… to stay at home.
In support of acting in solidarity organizers need to communicate better so that we can identify particular actions where we can coordinate activity! This cannot be left to chance.
But in acting in solidarity… in participating in this shared experience we do more than intellectually recognize the singular nature of our struggle against the oppressive force of capitalism as it expresses itself through colonialist practice as well as the co-option of our democratic processes. We also stand together in physical space and have the opportunity to share time with our friends and allies. We break bread together… we make friends and build community with those that act on principle and that are willing to stand and fight!
Solidarity is, in fact, the recognition of our extended family… the one with whom we are allied on the basis of principle.
Centralization, Decentralization and the Internet
A movement comes out of no-where and grows everywhere!… and therefore structures that we develop in preparation for the next wave need to account for this. We need to cultivate activity in various locations in our community while at the same time respecting the autonomy of the various nodes in the network.
In the modern context we have the perfect structure to enable for this; the Interne!. What we must do is to create the infrastructure that makes our activity visible to others, for there is no substitute to observing others taking to the streets in support of your activity.
The creation of a centralized communications infrastructure (a shared virtual space) would go a long way to creating unity across the movement.
Both Occupy and the Casseroles (the most recent movements in Canada) were in large part driven by Youtube videos and Facebook Event Pages. In fact the first event in Tahrir Square that marked the inception of the Arab Spring was also called on Facebook.
Visibility into the activity of others, serves to bridge boundaries and to extend our community… to create a bridge to our allies.
Rich Media, Collective Consciousness and the Tipping Point
In a world where everyone has an iPhone, the ability to capture, disseminate and form narratives on the basis of video footage cannot be underestimated. A picture actually is worth a thousand words… those that circulate images on Facebook understand the power of a simplified message. How can we get more such images in the hands of the rest of the general public?
Modern day revolutionaries need to understand the power of the tools that they have in hand… and must use them intelligently. Today is not the same as yesterday… The failure of past revolutionary activity should serve as a lesson, but should not dissuade us for the following reasons:
The collective consciousness about the legitimacy of capitalism and representative democracy is at a historical low point…The general public is starting to understand…
Our ability to shift global consciousness is at an all time high with tools like Facebook and Twitter… the structure of how we communicate is markedly different than ever before. No longer is messaging in the hands of only the 1%
Our ability to capture real time data from the front line is greater than ever thanks to the iPhone. We can make injustice visible
We are getting closer to the Tipping Point… We need to come together and keep our foot on the gas pedal.
Preparation and Governance
We cannot orchestrate a movement but we can prepare for that moment when there is a flashpoint that serves to galvanize the community… The focus of our preparation needs to be threefold:
Centralizing Our Communications Infrastructure: as mentioned before, if we had the ability to communicate across the movement; to share information, dates for events etc…
Centralizing Our Decision Making Process: This is a more complex issue that I have alluded to in my description of the model used by CLASSE. I will treat this separately in more detail…
Creating Shared Space: We need to have places to go… places where we can share food and drinks… laugh and cry… places where we can get to know each other and deepen our bonds. Ultimately trust is the glue that will make change a possibility and being together differently is ultimately what we are fighting for!
All these mechanisms that provide a hint of centralized infrastructure cannot lose sight of the importance of supporting the fundamentally autonomous nature of movements…
The rationale for these structures is to expand the boundary… to create a shared space where we can see, hear, touch, feel and interact with each other.
This shared space also serves to bridge the personal imperatives of those that participate in movements (need for affiliation and intimacy) with the strategic imperatives…
It is at this point of convergence where the distinction between the revolution and the new communities that we want to create begins to collapse….
This is the beginning of the creation of a Strongly Intentional Community… one that strongly intends to shift the cultural paradigm and usher in a new world while not losing sight of our personal needs for friendship and love!”