Tactical Turning Point
JESUS G. PASTOR
Hey you nimble dreamers, occupiers, believers,
Last May 15, a hundred thousand indignados in Spain seized the squares across their nation, held people’s assemblies and catalyzed a global tactical shift that birthed Occupy Wall Street four months later. Our movement outflanked governments everywhere with a thousand encampments in large part because no one was prepared for Occupy’s magic combination of Spain’s transparent consensus-based acampadas with the Tahrir-model of indefinite occupation of symbolic space. Now exactly a year later, a big question mark hangs over our movement because it is clear that the same tactics may never work again.
Spring re-occupations have largely failed here in North America. The May Day General Strike was stifled by aggressive, preemptive policing that neutralized Occupy’s signature moves. In light of these challenges, Saturday’s May 12 rebirth of the indignados could be a tactical turning point.
Across the world, authorities are using “lawfare” to piecemeal outlaw any tactic that we used last year. In Spain, there is an attempt to criminalize the use of the internet to catalyze nonviolent protests and occupations. The International Business Times reports that this is part of a larger European move to “punish those who use social media and instant messaging to organize and co-ordinate street protests.” Canada wants to ban wearing masks at “unlawful assemblies,” a legal designation often used to disperse nonviolent protesters. Meanwhile Germany is taking a more direct route: they have simply issued a decree “banning” the Blockupy anti-bank protest in Frankfurt. As in the U.S., when outlawing free speech and the right to assembly doesn’t work, authorities are increasingly using brutal, paramilitary force.
The power of Occupy lies in its ability to harness the collective intelligence of our leaderless movement to tactically innovate. We move at viral speed – always one step ahead. “Fight, fail, fight again, fail again, fight again… till victory.” When one tactical constellation fails, we innovate spontaneously – we play jazz.
Across the world, indignados are preparing for a big blast on Saturday, May 12. Some, like Occupy London, are planning to retake the squares and set up encampments. Others have totally new tactics in mind. Whatever happens, let’s learn from the indignados with an eye towards our Camp David inspired May 18 #LAUGHRIOT and the global convergence on Chicago to confront NATO …
Let’s be humble … let’s “fall in love with hard and patient work” – and keep in mind that this is all just the beginning.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
OccupyWallStreet.org / Tactical Briefing #29, #30, #31 / Be present on May 12 and on May 18 spark the #LAUGHRIOT then swarm Chicago.
120 comments on the article “Tactical Turning Point”
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Occupy NATO!
That's right, Occupy is gonna defeat NATO when the countries' leaders come to Chicago later this month.
Imagine that! The Soviet Union couldn't do it, but a few thousand protesters in Chicago are gonna bring down the free world, or whatever.
Surrender now, boys...ur fate is doom!
Anonymous
Man, are you confused. Free world? You must be part of the One Percent because their wealth has always been free for them. Goldman Sachs called, They said, Get off the computer and come suck their balls.
Anonymous
"It's time for OWS to move over and let a newer younger movement take hold."
Yes, in terms of 24 hour rolling news, Occupy might appear to be old news. But, in terms of real-world Mass-Movements, Occupy is still very young. Anyway, what newer younger movement are we talking about?
Anonymous
Historically inaccurate. You're stupid.
Anonymous
OWS has not run its course. Think of it as a name brand for death-defying feet. Why change the name now when it's got so much global momentum? I say run with it!
Anonymous
Determining just now that long-standing Occupy tactics like city park campouts, squatting, and blockading bank branches aren't working as well as they used to isn't really innovating "at viral speed" when they haven't been working for the past half year as protesters have been trying to carry out those tactics over and over again.
Occupy Toronto ...
I heard there's gonna be a big Occupy rally in Toronto at City Hall on June 2-3.
It's gonna be big, something like 100,000 Occupiers!
How can I get more information? I want to attend and show my support!
Anonymous
Toronto June 2-3
Could and should be awesome.
Indignado
Lovely piece. This I liked better. Thank you Adbusters for existing
In Spain (specifically in Barcelona) we will be making a 3-day permanent assembly (not an "encampment" or "occupation", because there have been agressive tactics of the authorities to prevent them from taking place). So we will be working in an Open Space format , where many spaces for different discussions will be taking place. There will be 5 prefixed thematic spaces, having in mind we want to develop a series of proposals and start to really decide what we want (given we all know very well already what we do Not want).
These five axes of discussion, these five spaces will work and elaborate proposals over these fundmaental axes for the new society we want, now:
- Universal Basic Income (let us agree on the floor of dignity below which we should not allow any citizen to fall - this closely interrelates with the concept of "citizen bailout" as opposed to "bank bailouts")
- Public and quality education and health service for all
- Decent housing for all
- Decent jobs, outlaw laboral precarity, and the refusal of the Goverments recent anti-social Labour Reform
- Not one more euro spent in bailing out the banks
Slavoj Zizek stated recently that we Indignados don't know what we want (except a "new lord"). He failed to grasp the slow but unstoppable process to seek for common ground within the 99% in a dialogic and inclusive process. Also we're proporsing alternativas: from cooperatives, banks of time, networks of mutual support, blocking home evictions, blocked hundreds of racist policial attack against inmigrants, using previous social networking bonds to organize speedlight and respond to injustices and oppresion wherever it take place. We moved away from the cameras, but still there are 40 assemblies only in Madrid meeting every week in the different quarters of the city and pushing forward an infinity of emancipatory organizations and actions.
The Legal Team (which gives legal advice to indignados and indignadas is very strong (http://legal15m.wordpress.com/), all the minutes of the assemblies are posted in here (tomalaplaza.net), then is the national Pacific Methodologies Active Nonviolence 15m comission (pazynoviolencia15m.blogspot.com) which is developing thousands of radical nonviolent strategies, the use of white blocks and a vast network of comrades throughout the nation. There are newly created.
There is a lively radio of the movement where a huge variety of voices and iniciatives are shared http://agorasolradio.blogspot.com.es/ . We have severely reduced our dependence from facebook by moving to N - 1. Also, the Mediators Brigades which specialize in developing effective assembly processes, open spaces, effective group working meetings, and also, very importantly, interpersonal conflict management through the use of mediation and of "mediation culture" and "nonviolent communication" skills.
The Translator Brigades, a group originally created in Madrid in 09-17-2011 in the wave of solidarity with Occupy, has translated hundreds of Adbusters articles, occupywallst.org/es blog into Spanish, dozens of global calls into a considerable bunch of languages (like tomorrows may12.net) , and also livestream assemblies on Mumble with the comrades from OWS, Occupy London and activists and citizens from everywhere around the world - this network is now precisely developing its own website (translatorbrigades.org).
In the aniversary of our birth, I want to say I feel inmensly proud of everything we've achieved because it has changed the course of history and will keep to do so, it is the history of the people, of the usually silenced from history books 99%. Don't even doubt the elites and the Ancien Regime fear us like hell, we pose a fundamental threat to the status quo, have overcome uncountable attemps to criminalize and marginalize and brutalize our movement and yet have the sympathy of 70% of the population. They cannot divide us and we will not let divide us
Let us share our knowledge and stand in solidarity till the end
Hasta la victoria, siempre, for the 2012 Global Revolution
Indignado
Forgot to say, together with the 5 prefixed thematic axes, there will be plenty of spaces so that any citizen can come up and put forward any specific topic or proposal with alike-minded people - this has been called the Forum of the People - inspired in the Open Space Technology
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