The Shape of Social Movements and Activism Today (Slides for Essex Radical Conference on Nov 14,...

8/14/2019 The Shape of Social Movements and Activism Today (Slides for Essex Radical Conference on Nov 14, 2013)

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The shape of social movements

and activism todayMark Bergfeld

Presentation at Essex Radical Conference on November 14, 2013

mdbergfeld[at]gmail.comwww.mdbergfeld.com


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Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/occupy_wall_street_global_prot.html


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Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/occupy_wall_street_global_prot.html


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Five claims on contemporary

movements

Horizontal

De-centralised

Leaderless Demandless

Networked

Authors: Penny (2010), Mason (2011), Graeber (2011a), Castells

(2012), Sitrin & Azzellini (2012), Dean (2012), and many more.


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Horizontalism

"Horizontalidadis a form of social relations established and sustained through

non-hierarchical forms of communication. Horizontalidad implies the use of

direct democracy and the striving for consensus - inclusive processes in which

attempts are made to ensure that everyone is heard and new relationships

are created." (Sitrin & Azzellini, 2012)

born out of the 2001 piqueteros movement in Argentina and zapatismo

linked to the practice of consensus decision-making (Graeber, 2013)

both tool and goal (prefigurative politics)

anti-systemic(MacPherson et al, 2013) in form

un-ideological


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Limits of horizontalism

"Being horizontal and deeply democratic is wonderful. But these principles

are compatible with the hard work of building structures and

institutions that are sturdy enough to weather the storms ahead. I have

great faith that this will happen." (Naomi Klein, 2012; p.2)

"It would be an illusion to think that that a happy island of horizontalism can

be created in the middle of the sea of capitalism" (Sitrin & Azzellini, 2011)

According to Tadzio Mueller: At the time of the anti-capitalist/alter-

globalisation movement it made sense, however with the rise of European

radical left parties, the Latin American Pink Tide and NGOs turning toward

grassroots organising no longer adequate for the movements (Notes from

Below, 2010)


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De-centralised

On 15 February 2003 there were more than 600 protests with

an estimated 15.9 million people worldwide (called for by the

European Social Forum in Florence 2002)

On 15 October 2011: People occupied more than 900 squares

across the world (called for by Spanish indignad@s)

UK student movement, Wisconsin, Arab Spring, Greek and

Spanish indignad@s, Occupy Wall Street, Chilean Winter,

Quebec student strike


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Map of protests on October 15, 2011

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2011/oct/18/occupy-

protests-map-world


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Double movement of centralisation

and (de-)centralisation

uneven & combined development of protest movements

due to national particularities of the current crisis and

austerity measures imposed on local populations

The forms of actions are centrifugal insofar that theystart in urban centres and then spread outwards in the

course of their development (OWS -> Occupy the Hood,

#OccupyGezi/indignad@s -> neighbourhood assemblies)

No formal command structurescentralises power innew ways: The power of the admin (Gerbaudo, 2012)


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Leaderless

The Economist on 19/10/2011: Leaderless, consensus-based

participatory democracy and its discontents

Washington Post article on 10/10/2011: What is Occupy Wall

Street? The history of leaderless movements

There are no leaders here. []. This is a leaderless protest

with no agenda butjustice (Penny, 2010) on #nov24 protests

in Guardian

"The first decision ensured that there would be no formal [my

emphasis] leadership structure that could be co-opted or

coerced" (Graeber, 2011a)


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Theoretical foundation of

leaderlessness

Manuel Castells and Network theories

Because they are a network of networks, they can afford not to

have an identifiable centre, and yet ensure coordinationfunctions, as well as deliberation, by interaction between

multiple nodes (Castells 2012, 221)

movements are roots of the new life spreading everywhere,with no central plan, but moving and networking, keeping the

energy flowing, waiting for spring (Castells 2012, 144)


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Networked

the networked social movements of the

digital age represent a new species of social

movement (Castells, 2012: 5)

cultural logic of networking (Juris, 2008)

digital repertoire of contention (Chadwick,

2007)

Website as collective organiser (El-

Hamalawy, 2012)


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Limits to social media

Twitter: Where there arefollowersthere are

leaders (social networks facilitate new forms of

hierarchy according to Suarez-Villa, 2012)

Even OWS brought out the Occupied Wall Street

Journaland OLSX brought out The Occupied Times

The shine of has worn off over the last few

months The repercussions of the recent NSA scandal are

still to be seen


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Four phases of demands

The action-enacted era of demands (8-hour day, end to child labour)at the beginning of the 20thCentury; fought for by workers massactionclassic Peace, Land and Bread

The corporatistdemand after WWII until 1968; parliamentary route;strengthened prevailing capitalist social relations; system could

incorpoarate The utopiandemand 1968-1973 summed up by the slogan: Berealistic Demand the Impossible!(made impossible by the onset ofcrisis in 1973)

Theera of demandlessness coincides with the state of permanentausterity and defeat of workers movements. Parliaments no longerdeliver reforms and mass demonstrations are either ignored(i.e. Stopthe War); culminates in movements anti-systemic nature anddemandlessness altogether


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The Era of Demandlessness


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Occupy Everything, Demand Nothing

comes from the Berkeley and New School studentoccupations (Communiques from Occupied California)

Rejection of demands all together

The occupation as its own demand

it is impossible for the ruling class to meet any demandunder the current balance of forces

Signifies a similar transcendence of demands in theway that the utopiandemand of 1968 did

"Occupation is a tactic. Demandlessness is a strategy.[...] this tactic andthis strategy are mutually consitutive rather than merely yokedtogether" (Khatib et al., 100)


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How do we move fromAto B?

"Occupy has still not found its power strategy. The 'occupation'

of Wall Street was much more about communicating a message

than exercising power." (Fox Piven 2012, 379)

"Instead of setting up demands and expecting institutional

power to react, people are constructing power together, popular

power." (Sitrin & Azzellini)

The power of mayhem (Mason)

- How do we move from occupation to general strike?

(Oakland)


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The Shape of Social Movements and Activism Today (Slides for Essex Radical Conference on Nov 14,...

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