mailradek on Sat, 5 Jun 1999 14:35:35 +0100 |
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Syndicate: mailradek no. 17 (NOTA BENE: radical action in the Russian parliament; proposal for the NGOs) |
The "mailradek" project is a non-regular posting of subjective commentaries on political themes. "mailradek" texts have no copyright and can be reprinted, translated, distributed without a special authors' permission. The information about the project is available at the Website (in Russian): http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Coffeehouse/1457. Everybody who doesn't receive it can send a "subscribe english mailradek" or "subscribe russian mailradek" (a more often and full version) e-mail to kireev@glasnet.ru, and I'll include him into the mailing list. Address: Russia 117333 Moscow, Vavilova 48-237, tel.: (095) 137 71 31, e-mail: kireev@glasnet.ru SEX, MONEY, POWER Action in the State Duma (parliament) Today, June 4, a radical action took place in the State Duma. Two participants have blocked the way of the deputies exiting the hall for the break, with a transparency "Sex. Money. Power." and threw the leaflets to the crowd of journalists. The leaflets had the text:*"They say the anarchists don't suggest any positive program. That's right. But the politicians who suggest the positive programs, do never plan to realize them. They only want money and power. Anarchism teaches how to act here and now". The participants refused to tell the journalists what their names are and what party/organization they belong to, "for it will simplify your way to acknowledge and neutralize us". The participants were arrested by the guards and brought to their office after a few minutes, and to the militia department after that, where they were released from two hours later. Remarks of a participant. An ignorance of militia and guards is striking! They would be much more furious some years earlier. Though we've heard the cries of a security boss outside the doors of commandant's office: "They both had to sit here fifteen minutes earler! Hurry up to write an explanation!" (and the subordinate used to answer in a pretty insolent way). It was also unexpected to see the same ignorance of the press. Again, the first radical action ever done within the walls of parliament, would become a first media topic at all TV channels just a couple of years ago. There're only some secondary programs showing it today. It means, the press has finally lost its will to give any objective information, and the program plans don't foresee any sensations (the first actionists of 90s were making use right of the journalist chase for the sensations). That's why we should start thinking about the actions which it already won't be able to conceal. Text no. 79 3.06.1999 Here follow some suggestions for how the NGO should work. NGO for now is the most effective form of an organization focused on the radical politics. The main problem of the contemporary radical organizations are: non-effectivity of the work, sectarianism, splits, the domination of theory over the practice. The following suggestions can prevent many of these problems and make the NGOs a decisive factor of contemporary politics. 1) NGO should try to diminisn a number of participants for to avoid becoming an ordinary political party. An ideal NGO is one or two people plus computer with modem. If this aim is achieved, a humiliating notion of an "activist" will disappear itself: each radical politics' participant becomes an autonomous unit, capable of an autonomous and responsible decision-making. 2) Such minimal NGOs should work on solving the concrete tasks, realizing the concrete projects. If the concrete task's solving requires a cooperation (a political campaign, for instance), the NGOs can arrange the short-term tactical coalitions based on the solidary acceptance of this concrete project. 3) The main NGO's orientation should become a maximal effectivity. It means the intersection of ideological discussions and practical work must be avoided. It's possible to cooperate with everyone for the sake of the chosen aim's achievement. The main condition for such cooperation is its short-term destiny: the coalition is to be made for the successful doing the things only, and the only indicator for the cooperation's success is that the things get done. Otherwise the partner NGOs will turn into a new sort of political party inevitably. 4) The NGOs should reject the traditional attributes of traditional leftist parties for to overcome their ideology: these are the members' hierarchy, the principle of representation and the orientation on creating a constant or long-term political label. The NGOs should stop playing the authorship (as the establishment parties do) for the sake of creating a new zone for alternative politics: they should become anonymous, i.e. operative and invisible. Media and politicians defeat the NGOs when they just manage to see their faces and call their names. An anonymization of politics - that's the main task for the NGOs for the nearest decade. 5) That's why the political tasks shouldn't be formulated in terms of an officially discussed agenda, they must have a high degree of "insanity" from the official politics' point of view. 6) NGOs should forget about the strategical tasks and the long-term projects for to build their work on the tactical means only. Political strategy presupposes, the politician knows of what the present and the future are. But the ignorance and non-understanding are the only things which give a firmness and a will to act in contemporary conditions. NGOs should oppose a new, contemporary methodology of the immediate and tactical decision-making to the traditional leftist ambitions of a full knowledge about reality. 7) The best ones between the known tools of radical politics are at the moment the operative political campaigns consisting of: a) alternative information's distribution; b) sensational news' creation. Alternative information has to interprete politics the other way than the official does, it has to anonymize politics and to elaborate its own language, setting its own agenda and calling the things the other way (internet and mailing lists give a convenient tool for that). But we shouldn't only withstand the official information, but intervene its field as well, in order to become a newsmakers. That's what the massive and operative political campaigns and the radical actions, appealing to the broad audience, are needed for. 8) Radical actions should be operative, they shouldn't be evaluated like an artwork, which is self-sufficient and alienated from the situation. But there is a need to reject not only the artistic ambitions but the "heroical" perceptions of an action as well; the action for sure requires a high degree of firmness and bravery from its participants, but it's simultaneously just an elementary political work, isn't it? 9) However the NGO would see it's aims and it's place, even the one which is organized according to these principles, it shouldn't hinder any activities aimed to subvert a system, nor to criticize it. The NGOs autonomously act on their territories, rejecting the principle of representation and the principle of unity, standing for their own interests. They are highly radical, not allowing any reformism and any compromise, and their simultaneous, local and tactical activity creates a united front of the struggle. INFO: May, 31 Larisa Schiptsova is temporarily released from the jail in Krasnodar. She was accused of preparing an attempt upon the governor Kondratenko. Larisa is released till the trial, and we hope it will be postponed because of the childbirth (she's at the sixth month of pregnancy). The other accused person, Maria Randina, was released earler and freed from all accusations. June, 3 an action took place before the FSB office building in the center of Moscow. It was organized by the Comittee against political repressions. ------Syndicate mailinglist-------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at> in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress