As politics and antiwar sentiment heats up on both sides of the Atlantic an issue that comes up time and time again on blogs and blog comments is the difficulty of translating opinion into action.
I’m not talking the Kossackian, big politics, Crashing The Gates type of organising – I’m talking about thinking globally and acting locally, building low-level. mostly single-issue, community political organisations in which it’s possible to maintain the principles of equality and democracy whilst still projecting a coherent message. It’s myriad small local organisations like this, banding together in democratic solidarity, that form the bedrock of left activism.
Small organisations are more secure too, in a climate where any dissenting political activity can get you spied on or worse.
It’s so much easier to sit and pontificate from behind the PC at the huge injustices than to actually get out and challenge the little ones: don’t I know it. But we can at least try and make a difference: all the rest is just so much verbiage. It might only be a tiny difference you make, it might even fail, but at least you stood up for what you believed. Better a moment as a lion than a lifetime as a sheep.
So having made your mind up to action, where on earth do you start? Right at the bottom.
Educate yourself. Do you know how your local government works, or national government for that matter? How can you protest something or hope to inluence a decision when you don’t know who to protest to? How can you influence a decision if you don’t know who by, where or when the decision is made? Find out what the political structures are, who is in charge, and learn as much about them and their departments as possible.If you don’t make it your business to find out where the levers of power are, however can you expect to push them?
That done (she says, waving her magic wand) define your goals. it’s no good saying “I’m against Bush”, or cruelty to fluffy bunnies or world poverty. What is it exactly about those things that your’e against? What is it exactly you’re in favour of doing to remedy that? What can you realistically hope to achieve? More to the point, who else is already doing it? No point wasting effort and resources starting up something when it’s already there.
There are some excellent web resources on grassroots organising: they’re not bibles, and some may not suit your particular circumstances, but all contain useful tips. here’s a handful to start with:
One thing I noticed while looking for meatspace organising resources online is that there are many political organising handbooks out there of varying usefulness, but they’re mostly for sale, so right away you have to spend money you may not have. So if you’re not somewhere where the Patriot Act applies, use your library if you have one or your university library if its accessible.
The key is to start small, you and a few like-minded others, even if it’s only inviting a few mates over for coffee or a beer to put together a flyer against dog poop in the playground or a dangerous intersection. Trying to organise a big public meeting in an age of apathy is a futile effort, Informal messaging is where it’s at – viral messaging, word of mouth, water cooler gossip. Talk to your neighbours and workmates, you might be pleasantly surprised at the views they hold. You might not, but then you’ll at least know what you’re up against.
Define your message, your goals and your audience and remember that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Stridency and anger might get you a 5 second spot on the news as you get dragged away by police, and there is a place for that in politics, but you’ll then have to rely on escalating outrage to get any attention in the future and you’ll be forever labelled as crackpots. Be nice and forceful where you can and civil but forceful where you can’t. Start small and sedate – that’ll make any later noisy protests that much effective, coming as it does from a group of normally sober citizens.
Politics is alll about commucating effectively and persuading others to your point of view. Have a media and online strategy. Any idiot can spam any number of websites and activist orgnaisations with emails so know who it is you’re talking to. Make a personal approach where possible, especially with the press: have a prepared statement or talking points ready and put your most eloquent and persuasive person on press duty. Get to know your local reporters. If one calls you and you don’t know them, take a number and ring back to check their bona fides.
Speaking as a someone formerly involved in high profile anti-nuke, anti-Halliburton, antiwar and antifa protesting and organising I’m well aware of the prevalence of right infiltrators and police, so a big issue for me in organising is security, both of the organisation and the individuals involved. However open and innocent your cause you have a right to peacefully express your opinion free of government spies and surveillance or attack from counter-protestors or police.
First be mindful of online security. Use as much technology as you can, it is a cost efficient way of getting your message to a large audience after all, but put the most technically adept amongst you in charge of online communications and email. Encrypt your email and use specific email adresses for all political organising and between group members. Keep archived files and email records and lists offsite and regularly clean up your pc. Use a firewall, antivirus and anti-spyware software. Take sensible precautions.
Be mindful of personal security – don’t hand out contact lists of emails and phone numbers to just anyone. Don’t use a home phone as a contact point for the group: try and acquire a pay as you go SIM card or cheap mobile phone and use it for organising and only that.
What about group members themselves? How can you ensure they’re not ringers? The short answer is you can’t, not entirely. You have to take people and their stated motivations at face value, but what you shouldn’t do is be so desperate for volunteers that you fail to take some basic precautions. At the very least check that they are who they say they are and don’t give anyone that you feel at all doubtful about any key responsibilties.
That of course can be difficult at a puiblic demo, should you hold one. One way to deal with this is to beg, rent, borrow or liberate a video camera and record the whole event. Not only do you then have photographic, timed and dated evidence of all that occurs, including any police actions, you’ll also have film of any agents provocateurs. Simply look for the person that’s deliberately, repeatedly avoiding the camera. (You could attempt to winnow them out by asking them to commit an illegal act but that’s a very dangerous tactic that could net you a conspiracy charge. Not worth it. Just being alert will usually be enough.) If you see anyone videoing you, video them right back. They don’t like it up ’em.
Before holding any public demonstration (having obtianed any necessary permits, naturally) hold a briefing on safety and security. If you can get someone to outline basic techniques for non-violent resistance. Inform particpants of their legal rights and what they might expect if arrested and who to call. Assign participants to affinty groups with one person with a mobile phone in charge of each, all reporting to the demo organiser. Have recognised rendezvous times and points and make sure all involved have an emergency number to call in case of any unfortunate incidents.
Last but not least, find a friendly lawyer if you can. Law schools and universities, law societies and lawyers’ guilds are often willing to do some pro bono work for activists – at the very least they’re very good to have along with you on a demo. (Indeed that’s how I started protesting politically, as a final-year student legal observer on the Stephen Lawrence anti-BNP demo in 1993.)
These days given the minefield of restrictions placed around free speech and public assembly legal advice is essential so that you know exactly what you can and cannot do. It also helps that someone’s got your back should the police get heavy-handed.
Lest all my paranoia about the chilling effect of the WoT on political actvism put you off, I’d like to say that I’ve met some of the best people ever (plus some of the worst) in political organising and it has opened my mind to the sheer power that’s unleashed when ordinary people act in concert. Political activism can change your life and the world – it may be a truism but like whoever it was said, think globally, act locally. You’ll do OK and you may even win, and small victories accumulate.
