[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Fwd: [OccupyLondon] A vital initiative - but is it a People's Assembly? by Mich Manchester.

[Mark Barrett]

Let's hope  this starts a debate. The twitter address for uk paa is
@pplsassembly and for the peoples assembly network @panworldwide pls
include in any tweets about this so we can encourage more conversation on
the matter

alternatively pls also post in the comments section of
http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/2014/04/a-vital-initiative-but-is-it-a-peoples-assembly/
where
you will find the full piece by Occupier Mich (also pasted below)


A vital initiative - but is it a People's Assembly?

 As a new organisation you need to know where you stand and the People's
Assembly Against Austerity Recall Conference was about voting on a
structure and policy to move on.

At the start of the day tributes were paid to Tony Benn and Bob Crow, not
only very respected left wing leaders but also original signatories to the
People's Assembly founding letter. The conference had started with a minute
of applause and their campaigning spirit and dedication was remembered
throughout the day. I think it's fair to say that the conference felt that
a fitting tribute to them both would be to carry on campaigning for the
issues that we believe in.

Much of the conference involved the process of passing motions, which will
now become the basis on which the Peoples Assembly works, structurally and
financially, the campaigns it supports, and the actions it takes. These
were organized into Aims, Structure and Actions.

There was agreement the vast majority of the Action motions, which formed
the largest part of the motions document, so these were largely not
debated, but were proposed with supporting speeches, with none against. The
breadth of the issues covered demonstrated clearly the far-reaching affects
of the austerity agenda and there was a strong feeling of solidarity for
the motions, campaigns and the groups leading them.

It must have been no mean feat for the organising committee to pull
together the 90 motions on 10 themes sent from around the country into
something coherent. There was a main motion on each theme with any number
of supplements to the main motion, giving more detail to the main theme. A
few motions had amendments however, which contained proposals that were
contradictory to the main motion.

I do not fully understand how the main motions were drawn up and how it was
decided what should constitute a main motion, but listing the motions as
such gave more weight to the main motion over the amendments and
supplements. The amendments I felt particularly were therefore somewhat
sidelined. A number of the main motions were also proposed by "the People's
Assemblies Signatories", it was not clear who these actually were in this
context and by doing this I feel further weight was given to these motions.

This design did not cause a problem on the Actions motions, as all but one
contained no amendments and were therefore not contentious. However the
Structural and Finance motions did contain amendments, and it was obvious
from the debate that opinion was not as clear-cut and that delegates had
differing views. This is where I felt the influence of the Conference
Organising Group (or whoever had drawn up the motions document) and also
the top table on the stage in the room, pushing for the main motion. Thus
then, that a top down structure had already evolved.

This was important to me because I had written one of the proposals that
had been classed as an amendment, a Participatory Democracy Motion, which
had been submitted through Manchester People's
Assembly<http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/2014/01/manchester-pa-endorses-participatory-democracy-resolution/>.
This motion, sought to install a decentralized structure alongside calling
on the People's Assembly to exercises participatory practices and to set up
a working group to look into how this could be achieved. I felt that there
was an opportunity, as we structured a new organization, to lead the way in
democratic process.

The motion didn't get passed but did receive a good show of support. There
seemed to be a genuine openness to where the participatory motion came
from, from the person speaking to the main motion and the speech against it
(from a Green Party and steering group member). The latter was almost
apologetic, using the argument that now is not the time to change the
structure and in a year it might be. I suspect it won't be then though, I
anticipate the argument will be put that it's too close to a General
Election to reorganise our structure. So while I felt sympathy for the
ideals of the motion there was not the desire to take participatory
democracy further within the PAAA. In other words the motion came up
against an entrenched way of doing things.

The following debate on finance bore out the reason why I feel that
participatory methods are more democratic and can ultimately foster deeper
co-operation and understanding. They also demonstrated, I feel, the top
down structure which is already in place.

The main finance motion focused on the flow and use of money raised within
the central organisation, while the amendments spoke of the importance of
both national and local groups, with one calling for a percentage of
finances to be channeled to local groups.  The main motion also called for
a membership scheme with a sliding fee scale for individuals, groups and
Unions.

The debate on the proposed flow of funds caused friction between local PAAA
groups and national committee. I felt that the 'signatories' came across as
considering the central organization as more important than the local
groups, and lacking an understanding of the challenges local assemblies
face.

When it looked like the amendments were well supported & would pass,
someone from the top table, rather grumpily, stated that this would mean
the main motion would need to be rewritten. This caused someone to shout
from behind me from the floor 'that's democracy' - which of course it was!

One amendment was rescinded by the proposer when a steering group member
promised to take on board its sentiments, the other passed, meaning that
there is currently no agreed financial structure in place.

Using participatory practices, workshopping these motions with interested
people from assemblies across the UK, when drawing them up, could have
fostered a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges at local and
national level and perhaps preempted this friction. Yes it would have taken
more time and effort to collaborate, but it could also have resulted in
closer working relationships between central and regional People's
Assemblies.The People's Assembly Against Austerity therefore, does not
function how I understand a true assembly of the people would function,
which would be to exercise participatory democracy. It's structure feels
like a traditional trade union or party model, a tried and tested structure
- yes, but a mirror of the structure of government in this country which
people feel so disenfranchised from and which has allowed the
implementation of an austerity agenda which no one voted for and which so
many oppose.

A People's Assembly to me is a movement of individuals, the People's
Assembly Against Austerity is more a grouping of already existing
organizations. It is vital that we bring new people into the political
debate and into actions, to hear the voices of individuals who are not
already within a union or campaign group. We need to create an open and
welcoming space where everyone feels encouraged to contribute and where
everyone feels their voice is heard. To do this we need to try more than
replicating a structure that is letting us down.

I believe that a networked structure where the centre facilitates the
development of connections, solutions and actions between the local
assemblies, but does not dictate the agenda, is the way forward. What I
feel makes a true People's Assembly is that ideas and solutions come from
the network to the centre, rather than visa versa. While the motions were
submitted from the network of assemblies, they were compiled by the centre
and elements given weight by the centre. The centre is also calling for
actions, rather than the network, which has resulted in the next two
National Actions being London based.

I left the conference feeling that, as local People's Assemblies Against
Austerity, we will need to work extra hard to ensure that our regional
voices are heard - which is what we have always had to do to take part in
the political process. I also can't help feeling that an opportunity has
been missed to break new ground in organizing democratically.

That said, the People's Assembly Against Austerity is a much needed
organization. There is a need for an umbrella to bring together all the
groups campaigning against the austerity agenda and the damage it is
causing to society and people. We need to work side-by-side, to share
ideas, experiences and skills, and it was encouraging to see so many groups
intent on doing so.

Mich Manchester

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