[Marxism] Bring the Ruckus web update/natl meeting report

[Mike Kramer <mkramer666@xxxxxxxxx>]

Please check out the newly updated Bring the Ruckus
website. The articles in this update include:

Report on the Minuteman Project
by Luis and Sean

Anti-Authoritarian Organizing
by Paul Glavin

as well as writings on labor and the Left relevant to
the recent split in the AFL-CIO and a report on the
BTR national meeting by Dan Horowitz de Garcia.

http://www.agitatorindex.org/

Bring the Rucks National Meeting Report

By Dan Horowitz de Garcia

Memorial Day weekend saw the third national meeting of
Bring the Ruckus (BtR) in Portland, Oregon. This
year?s meeting was a more introspective meeting than
in the past with the agenda reflecting a desire to
look at internal operations. The two-day gathering
gave members a chance to evaluate past work, make
corrections, and implement new program.

Although national meetings are usually held once a
year it had been 18 months since the last gathering in
Los Angeles. It was immediately apparent this is too
much time between meetings and members talked about
the necessity of more face-to-face political
discussion.

The number of people present showed growth in the
organization, now with four functioning locals (a
chapter with at least 3 members in good standing) and
three other proto-locals (chapters in formation). Also
present were many observers, non-members who wished to
participate in some of the political discussion.
Observers came from as far away as Chicago and the Bay
Area and at the peak almost matched the number of
members present. Much of the discussion focused on the
internal workings of BtR which was difficult to have
in the presence of so many outsiders. Rather than shut
down the conversation, however, everyone present
pushed through the difficulties. But the general sense
from membership is that our conversations didn?t go as
deep as we would have liked in certain areas. Members,
already aware of many pressing issues, wanted to dive
deep into those political questions. Instead time was
spent catching up observers. This was particularly
true in discussions on feminist praxis and the
dynamics of a cadre organization. This is in no way
the fault of observers, but rather the natural result
of having the room almost evenly divided. While it?s
likely BtR will continue to have observers at national
meetings the policy is sure to be re-evaluated over
the next year.

The meeting agenda was divided into two days with day
one dedicated to answering two questions about BtR?s
work and day two focusing on proposals and elections.
The questions for day one, how have we done our work
and how should we do our work, were divided into
morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session,
about how we have done our work, began with a review
of actions of the past 18 months. Specifically members
reviewed work done in our priority areas (anti-prison
and anti-cop work), exploratory areas (counter
military recruitment, workplace organizing, border
organizing, and anti-drug war work), and specific
projects (the Republican National Convention demo/Life
After Capitalism conference and the Grassroots Prison
Campaign). See sidebar for specific reports. Analyzing
these accomplishments in small and large groups,
participants pointed to the need for greater political
education within the organization and greater
consciousness about process.

The consensus of BtR members, as well as the
observers, was that the organization needs to spend
time on internal political education. This means
developing the collective political analysis on
questions of leadership, cadre, gender, the six
criteria, and how BtR functions as a national
organization. It was also noted that there seems to be
a lack of definition of what is success in Ruckus. The
lack of clarity regarding the development process of
membership growth, ideological development, and other
areas can and has led to confusion. For example, the
relationship of Bring the Ruckus to Race Traitor and
its politics was unclear to most observers and some
members. In answering the question how do we do our
work, BtR answered that the work is strong but that we
lack clarity in key internal and external areas.

The afternoon agenda focused on how the work should be
done. We tackled this large question by having a
series of shorter discussions on the definition of a
cadre organization, our public face, and feminist
praxis. The conversations only scratched the surface
of each topic, but did lead us to an answer of the
larger question.

Although there is no serious disagreement within BtR
on the effectiveness of a cadre organization, there
are questions about what it means to operate as one.
The function of a cadre, adapted from C.L.R. James, is
to observe, record, and participate in working class
struggles with the potential to create a free world. A
cadre group organizes revolutionaries, rather than
mass groups, and works to develop an accurate analysis
of the world and the politics of its members. The
conversation led to questions on the revolutionary
process itself and how a cadre organization relates to
it.

full text at: http://www.agitatorindex.org/articles/natl_meeting.htm

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism