File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_1999/anarchy-list.9912, message 639


Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 16:04:06 -0500
From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca>
Subject: Re: ZNet Update / Who Owns the Movement?


"Shawn P. Wilbur" wrote:
> 
> Having read Albert's responses to the responses to this, i wonder if what
> is really at issue is *not* ownership of the movement - which Albert
> himself seems to think is a silly enough idea - but ownership of the
> *moment - as if a particular group or coalition could claim a place, time
> and social crisis as their own. It's a perhaps unconsciously propertarian
> approach, and nobody should be surprised if it's not universally accepted
> - particularly by us anarchistic types.
> 
> I suppose there may also be a bit of "after the revolution" thinking going
> on, an assumption that there already is, or should be, some grounds for
> agreement among opponents to the current system. There isn't - that seems
> pretty obvious - so, perhaps, claims to solidarity can be logically made
> by more than just the majority. It's hard to imagine, if folks really mean
> to change the world with the help at hand, why blockers wouldn't have
> planned precisely for a certain amount of trashing - if only in terms of
> media solidarity after the fact. Except...
> 
> Probably we don't know each other well enough. Nothing builds coalitions
> but coalition building. It just seems all too predictable and a whole lot
> less than just that a particular minority is expected to extend solidarity
> - or have the cops called by folks presumably "within the (exceptable
> norms of the) movement."

I think that Shawn hits the nail right on the head here. I nodded my
head in agreement this morning and am nodding even more now, after
attending a news conference titled "The Battle after Seattle: What's
next?" (The list of speakers is appended at the bottom of this email).
I've also realized that I've been a bit harsh in my flames of Michael
Albert, to whom I will respond this weekend with a longer response to
his essays.

So, who owns the moment? Who owns the movement? While it's true that a
diverse groups of people came together for Seattle, I can't see how or
even why this "coalition" should continue. If you ask me who owns the
movement after my lunch today, I would say that the reformists think
they own the movement. I'm pretty sure they don't care what Z Magazine
thinks, nor Michael Albert, or the Eugene anarchists, DAN, the IWW, or
anarchists. 

This was pretty apparent at the news conference that I attended today
with several local anarchists (and IWW members). BTW, it was really cool
to see Kadd in his bright red IWW cap. It really helped deflect all of
that new photgrapher light that was being lavished on James Hoffa, Jr.

The news conference today was typical inside-the-beltway liberal
politics. There were labor leaders there from all the big reformist
unions: Teamsters, AFL-CIO, UAW, and the United Steelworkers of America.
There were reps from pro-corporate environmental groups like Friends of
the Earth, the Humane Society, and the Sierra Club. Of course, also in
attendance was the guy who orchestrated all of the Seattle protests,
Michael Dolan (I'm being sarcastic here).

The only cool people there were Wei Jingsheng, the "leading Chinese
democracy activist," David Hyde, the "student leader of the Seattle
protests," and Eric Brakken, who works on the anti-sweatshop campaign.

Nobody from DAN, Ruckus, or from Art and Revolution Convergence. Nobody
from the IWW or Indymedia. No leftists and no anarchists.

So what do these people think should be "next"?

Keeping China out of the WTO.

I was quite surprised to hear almost EVERY speaker, from this broad
range of issue groups, touch on the controversial entry of China into
the WTO. These folks are also against granting China "most favored
nation" (MFN) trading status. Hey, I hate the authoritarians in China
too, but N30 was about more than just a campaign issue in next year's
presidential elections.

Yes, by the time the "official" journalists started asking questions,
the whole point of the news conference revolved around next year's
elections. Some guy wanted to know if the other labor groups had
endorsed Gore. The Steelworkers guy said they already had and everybody
knows that the Teamsters have been holding out (which must account for
all the photographs taken of Hoffa). Is this really about Hoffa as
kingmaker for the Democratic Party? Did people get teargassed to make
Hoffa a "player" in the 2000 elections.

NO!

Another journalist asked a funny question (to me at least) about how
much money had been spent on the anti-WTO demonstrations. He was
probably looking for some kind of campaign irregularity, but one of the
folks answered his question pretty well. She explained that Seattle
involved lots of volunteer time and human labor that couldn't be
quantified. Lots of people sleeping on other people's couches. By the
way, this is the closest acknowledgement that I heard that the Battle
for Seattle was a decentralized, networked event. I think that many
journalists still think that Michael Dolanm, the "principal Seattle
protest organizer," and the  Citizens Trade Campaign organized
everything top down.

I agree with Shawn that "nothing builds coalition but coalition
building." There are quite a few possibilities out there. But it's also
evident that some coalitions aren't meant to happen, i.e. the IWW
working with the Teamsters.

The N30 actions around the world weren't simply about the WTO. I'm not
sure how much the so-called "leaders" of the Trade Coalition understand
that. Maybe they do and the direct actions scare them. I don't know, but
I think we shouldn't worry about them and instead focus on what the
worldwide anti-capitalist movement or network, whatever you call it,
should do next. 

My feeling is that "what's next" will entail thousands of actions by
people around the world, with a few big events thrown in for fun.

-- 
Chuck0

Mid-Atlantic Infoshop
http://www.infoshop.org/

Leonard Peltier Freedom Month 
Executive Clemency For Peltier!
http://www.freepeltier.org/lpfreedommonth.html

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Now!
http://www.infoshop.org/gulag/mumia_idx.html

"A society is a healthy society only to the degree 
that it exhibits anarchistic traits." 
        - Jens Bjørneboe

============= > MEDIA ADVISORY - December 10, 1999
> >
> > Fresh from Victory in Seattle, Trade Coalition
> > Will Address Next Steps at Tuesday Briefing
> >
> > Union Presidents - Joined by Green Group Chiefs, Human Rights
> > Activists, Student Leaders - to Discuss "The Battle after Seattle"
> >
> > What:  Press Briefing: "The Battle after Seattle" (a light buffet
> > lunch will be served)
> >
> > When: Tuesday, December 14, 12:15 p.m.
> >
> > Where: National Press Club, Washington, D.C., Holeman Room, 13th Floor
> >
> > Who: George Becker, President, United Steelworkers of America
> >       James P. Hoffa, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
> >       Steve Yokich, President, United Auto Workers (by audio link)
> >       Linda Chavez Thompson, Executive Vice-President, AFL-CIO
> >       David Hyde, student leader of the Seattle protests
> >       Eric Brakken, United Students Against Sweatshops
> >       Carl Pope, Exec. Director, Sierra Club (by audio link)
> >       Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends of the Earth
> >       Patricia Forkan, Exec. Director, Humane Society US
> >       Wei Jingsheng, leading Chinese democracy activist
> >       Charlie Kernaghan, Exec. Dir., Nat'l Labor Committee for Human
> > Rights
> >       Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
> >       Mike Dolan, principal Seattle protest organizer
> >       Scott Nova, Director, Citizens Trade Campaign
> >
> > Leaders of the coalition that redefined the politics of trade with
> > mass protests in Seattle will hold a briefing Tuesday, Dec. 14 to
> > discuss the battles ahead.  Union presidents, heads of environmental,
> > animal welfare and consumer groups, and student and human rights
> > activists will address plans for year 2000.  USWA President George
> > Becker, says:  "Our coalition is bigger, broader and more united than
> > ever.  We will continue to challenge the trade agenda of giant
> > multinationals and Wall Street with an agenda that puts people first."
> >

   

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