Categories: uncategorized
Date: 12 November 2011 10:13:48
Occupy London is obviously the hub of the Occupy movement in the UK, and specifically the camp outside St. Paul's; but Occupy is much wider than that in the UK. There are a mixture of camps which set up on the weekend of 15th/16th October and ones which have sprung up since. It appears that in terms of acceptance and "legal hassell" those which sprung up over the initial weekend have had less problems than those which have emerged later. Yesterday Occupy Cardiff attempted to set up but were then moved on as the BBC reports this is in contrast to Newcastle where the council have been more positive. The following is a FB post from a reliable source at the Occupation:
"Nick Forbes, the councillor who is in charge of Newcastle council, popped in to the occupation today. He came to hear our views, and also told us that the council are fine with us protesting at the monument and have no intentions of moving us. He had a little debate with a few of us on the way things are. Andy was great with explaining the issues of corperate greed and how we seriously need to change things for a more sustainable living, but Nick kept bringing our conversation back to Newcastle city, saying he only really has control over that. We then spoke about how Newcastle has the poorest children, and how we should make Newcastle more sustainable for itself.
He said he wanted to leave us with a question which he will come back to hear the answer: "What would we like to change in Newcastle?". He also kept saying how they have have massive cuts in money, so they are struggling...
I then left him with if we are going to try to help Newcastle, we seriously need to tackle all these much bigger issues, because if we don't, there will be no hope for any of us.
He is going to contact us when he will come back."
Four weeks on we can see that Occupy is, despite accusations that is just a leftish talking shop and such like, beginning to achieve things beyond those which are visible in our newspapers because they are occuring on the doorsteps of the nationals. What they are achieving is making a conversation happen. The Occupy movement is getting people to discuss the issues and on one level re-engage with politics. Thinking back to the stuff on the Tobin Tax, the Archbishop of Canterbury had spoken out on this issue previously as had many organisations including Christian ones, (this 2010 letter for the Guardian shows some history) but it was only in the shadow of the Occupy movement that David Cameron was forced to give a response in the House of Commons on the issue which is then televised and discussed in the mainstream media as much as it is the more marginal elements. The discussion in the public square has started to move on in more sophisticated ways than it was, I would argue, because of the Occupy protests. So no they don't have solutions, but they are discussing the issues within the Free Uni's and so forth to try and move forward but they are kickstarting the debates and discussions and helping people feel re-engaged again.
I read a letter within the "Talking Point" section of the Methodist Recorder from Canon Kenyon Wright which summed up what was going on and why it was important. It was a letter which actually made me feel my eyes getting a bit damp. The bit that really got me was as follows:
"You will be told you are un-realistic, utopian and have no answers to the issues you raise. Neither does anybody else - but it is the central task of this generation to find the answers before it is too late."
The Methodist Recorder along with other faith publications have been following Occupy. The coverage has been interesting in these papers because there is a clear gap opening up between the establishment and those who aren't part of the establishment. Simon Barrow of Ekklesia has picked this up in an article I would recommend. The Church Times has perhaps the most interesting coverage and reaction because it is stuck in the middle of the two groups; the Telegraph readers on one hand and the Guardianistas on the other. The Recorder I am loving though, not just because it turned my snotty letter which was apparently too long into an article looking like it had interviewed me but more because this quaint ickle publication is getting back to the radical roots of Methodism in its pages. This week there was this wonderful piece from Cannon Wright but also a lovely article about the minister of Dorset Gardens church going to visit Occupy Brighton with their student development worker.
There is also the obvious discussion and comment on Twitter and on blogs. Pete Phillips, (who Third Party describes as the Methodist Stephen Fry because of his Twitter following), has posted some excellent stuff on a blog, which I'm only now getting the chance to catch up with.
He made the following excellent point about this difference which exists between the establishment response and the progressive response : "In all of this, I have been both disheartened by the Church of England but also cheered that St Paul's does not represent the whole of that Church. I have been thrilled to find support in the Methodist Church, but at the same time a complete lack of engagement by the hierarchy of the Methodist Church in the Occupy movement. We were at the forefront of unionism back in the days of the Tolpuddle Martyrs but there seems to be complete silence on this issue apart from a few of us acting as private individuals."
Within this comment he gets to the heart of what is going on and why Occupy is important in terms of being a true social movement rather than an organisation. It is because it is coming from the grass roots and private individuals. It is coming from the same type of people who made the Fehruary 2003 Stop the War march more than just a CND/ SWP / Lib Dem social. Whilst the Church Times says almost half the LSX group are Socialist Workers part of the reason that in the UK it has not followed the normal patterns for protest are because it was not generated by either the Socialist Worker, Counterfire or the Class War types - whom I suspect the Church Times are lumping together in one leftwing/ anarchist label. Occupy in the UK grew up via social networking and coverage of what was going on in the US and elsewhere. That meant that whilst it does still contain the usual rag-tags the Daily Mail abhore it is much wider than that; it is a truly diverse and democratic movement.
An additional difference to previous things is the way that language is understood as a tool to be used sensibly. I will never forget being down in London and being in a meeting discussing the initial statements construction when somebody said something which was followed by the following response, "you're directly quoting The Paris Commune; you need to make your point in simple, short, plain English which everybody can understand and connect with." Occupy is forcing the Marxists to reframe their language for the twentyfirst centuary. This social movement is one which is seeking to be non-eliteist in a way which others have not been.
Another area where the protests differ from others is in the way which the fluffies and spikeys are relating to each other. In many ways the spikeys who are those who agree with violent direct action are respecting the rights and values of the fluffies, those who agree with non-violent direct action, much more than I have witnessed in the past. The general pattern I have often see emerge within protest is that the majority of protesters are fluffy but then there are a spikey minority who are made up of genuine anarchists who can theoretically explain their belief in violent direct action, the brew crew whose spikey nature is fuelled by alcohol consumption/misuse and agent provocetuers who are from either the far right or the security services, (see the story of Mark Stone/ Mark Kennedy for an example of how the police work). The spikey contingent often take themselves off and a scuffell starts which the Met seem to use as a starting gun to move in and use disproportionate force on the fluffy protesters, or to engage in acts like kettling. That hasn't happened this time; there seems to be the sort of respect for the fluffies being shown which has in the past normally been reserved for peace camps.
To sum up Occupy and particularly looking at Occupy UK appears to be something unique based upon the grandchildren of the situationists recovering their legacy and again playing with language, agitprop and protest in order to try and change the world. The situationists were able to emerge in the form they did because of the emergence of cheap mass printing, (see the history of the photocopier) and Occupy have been able to emerge in the form they have because of the digital age and social media.