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IOPS: Facilitating Fledgling Chapters
By Mark Evans at Sep 15, 2010 |
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ZGroups is a new feature on ZCom that facilitates members of the Z community to come together around shared interests. You can start a new group or join an existing one. Once you are a member of a group you can work with other members to design your group page and use it as an organising tool.
One such group is IOPS – International Organisation for a Participatory Society – which has been set-up to help bring together people who are interested in building a new international organisation around participatory vision and strategy. If you visit the ZGoups page and look at the introductory information for the IOPS group you will see that part of this effort is to help develop and create fledgling chapters.
These fledgling chapters constitute the basic units of the overall organisation. They are referred to as “fledgling” to indicate that, to the best of our ability, they are to be developed in-line with our participatory vision – i.e. self-managed by the members.
These chapters could be National in scope - like PPS-UK - but within these National chapters we could also have regional and local chapters – as with, for example, PPS-Birmingham, PPS-London, etc. etc in PPS-UK. So we can imagine an international organisation made-up of different layers of chapters, all of which are self-managed. We can even think of these “different layers of chapters” as the nested council system in embryonic form.
Okay – but how best to facilitate the development of such an organisation? Well it seems to me that it might be an idea to have a sign-up system that automatically put members into chapters. So for example, if x wanted to join IOPS they would first go to the group page on Z. But instead of just requesting to join that group they would have to fill in an on-line application form that would have required fields as part of it.
This would include geographical information like –
- Country
- Region
- Local
I imagine we would have to give it more thought than that but you get the point. Each geographical category would have a drop-down bar with it and applicants would have to choose from the options.
The end result would mean that all IOPS members fall into a National, regional and local chapter. As a result, when people join IOPS they will not just be members of some unstructured organisation but instead will see where they fit alongside other members. The advantage, it seems to me, is that with this new sign-up system we automatically generate the chapter / council structure we desire.
Revolutionary Organization and the Council System
By Korte, Patrick at Sep 28, 2010 18:40 PM
I have some critical comments and the hope that we can tease out some of these ideas through conversation...
Regarding the relationship between the councils and an organization of revolutionaries:
You state that the International Organization for a Participatory Society (IOPS) would be a federation of national organizations, and these national organizations would be a federation of local organizations - so far, I agree - but you go on to state that "we can even think of these 'different layers of chapters' as the nested council system in embryonic form." I find this comment highly problematic: Assuming these councils truly are mass organizations in which the oppressed and exploited participate in the management of society, then revolutionaries should intend on assisting in the development of specific policies and practices within these councils (i.e., an equitable division of labor within producers' councils), and therefore do not automatically submit to the political ideas developed within a given political or economic council (i.e., a workers' council that supports a hierarchical division of labor).
For example, when workers' and soldiers' councils were formed in Germany after the First World War in 1918, it was only a minority of workers and soldiers who supported social revolution and the establishment of participatory self-management of the polity and economy. The majority of workers' and soldiers' councils supported the SPD (Social-Democratic Party of Germany) and demanded the formation of a bourgeois representative democracy. This experience seems to indicate the importance of a revolutionary organization maintaining an existence independent of (though organically linked to) the life of the councils.
Furthermore, the struggle for liberation is not limited to the polity and economy - even after capitalism and the authoritarian state have been dismantled and new institutions have taken their place, the struggle for intercommunalism, women's liberation, and sexual liberation continues. It is also a likely possibility that the struggle for the social relations corresponding to the institutional boundary of the new polity and economy will continue after the core political and economic institutions of a participatory society have been built and consolidated. I hesitate to assume that the councils will automatically undertake these tasks, or that the revolutionary process will proceed in an even and orderly way.
Finally, the idea of the revolutionary organization "melting" into the council system seems to ignore the fact that supporters of counter-revolution will form their own organizations to wage a "battle of ideas" in opposition to the new social institutions.
Regarding membership applications for IOPS:
Who will oversee the approval or rejection of these applications? What criteria must be met for an application to be accepted? Will the only condition of membership be one's agreement with the [broad] vision of a participatory society? What about a national or local group's composition (in relation to one's race, class, gender, sexuality, age, organizing experience, etc.)? What about agreement with complementary holism as a method of social analysis appropriate for revolutionaries? Could an individual or group of individuals who defend a monist or pluralist method of analysis be admitted into the organization? What about agreement regarding strategic and tactical concepts (i.e., the importance of revolutionaries participating in reform struggles)?
I look forward to your reply!
- Pat
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Re: Revolutionary Organization and the Council System
By Evans, Mark at Nov 12, 2010 00:08 AM
“Regarding membership applications for IOPS:”
“Who will oversee the approval or rejection of these applications?”
Initially it will be the IOPS administrators.
“ Will the only condition of membership be one's agreement with the [broad] vision of a participatory society?”
There is an “Is this group for you?”menu box plus a “IOPS statement”. The idea is that people read this first then decide if they want to apply to join.
Regarding the other points you raise under this section of your reply I would highlight the “Propose a Change” facility of this Z group.
“Regarding the relationship between the councils and an organization of revolutionaries:”
“but you go on to state that "we can even think of these 'different layers of chapters' as the nested council system in embryonic form." I find this comment highly problematic”
Im sorry but I dont understand what your point is here. Ive read what you have written but dont see how it relates to IOPS. Perhaps you will try again?
“ Finally, the idea of the revolutionary organization "melting" into the council system seems to ignore the fact that supporters of counter-revolution will form their own organizations to wage a "battle of ideas" in opposition to the new social institutions.”
For me the councils are the revolutionary organisations so I dont understand what you mean when you refer to these two organisations “melting” together. And of course there will be a “battle of idea” and serious resistance to progressive change. No surprise there.
My email notification has been switch back on now so I should reply more promptly next time.
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Project for a Participatory Society--U.S
By Roblin, Stephen at Sep 17, 2010 01:18 AM
Some of us recent ZMI grads are talking about forming a "Project for a Participatory Society--U.S.," an IOPS project. See my blog post: http://www.zcommunications.org/why-not-a-project-for-a-participatory-society-u-s-by-stephen-roblin
In my view, the PPS-UK project seems like a great organizational template. I'd like to talk to you more about this.
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Re: Project for a Participatory Society--U.S
By Evans, Mark at Sep 17, 2010 12:37 PM
Feel free to contact me any time via my ZSpace.
The PPS-UK approach to organising has raised some concerns / issues with some people. We can talk about that and maybe you can learn some leasons from our mistakes.
There are also people doing important work in the US that you should contact.
Look forward to hearing from you.
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Re: Re: Project for a Participatory Society--U.S
By Roblin, Stephen at Sep 17, 2010 13:04 PM
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