[matilda] Guiding Principles.

[dougald hine]

Nice work, Ben!

It occurred to me the other day that we need to remember, when talking
about guiding principles, that we aren't starting with a blank canvas.
We were invited into this building by Mark, who's had a business here
for fifteen years and spent the last five years fighting the council
and Hallam university.

I think everyone can see how excited he is about being involved in
what we're all doing. But when we've been talking about whether or not
to allow any profit-making activity in the space, we lose track of the
fact that it's already happening!

As for the PGA hallmarks, I don't think we'll get consensus around
their being necessary for the space. For my part, it's not that I
object to them, but that I object to the idea that the space should be
exclusively for the use of people who sign up to them. I think there
are people we can usefully work with who may be put off by us having a
manifesto over and above the practical structures which, as Gavin
says, are already emerging.

For a similar reason, I wonder if we need the word political in the
following sentence: "It is a political space for use by community
groups and activists who are unable to afford the high rent charged by
commercial venues." My experience is that announcing yourself as
"political" puts off a lot of people who've had bad experiences of
"political" organisations - whereas just doing what we mean by
"political" can excite and surprise people who don't think of
themselves as interested in politics. Does that make any sense?

D.
x

ps - when I was a kid, we had this great German picture book about the
Familie Maulwurf (Mole Family). I'll have to dig it out and see if its
open to a Marxian reading...

-- 
Dougald Hine
46 Alderson Road, Sheffield S2 4UD
(+44)(0)7810 650213