there were numerous
> things that various people did or tried to do that most of those present
> objected to, myself included. but at no stage did anyone, to their credit,
> play out these disputes in the media*, and at no stage did anyone call on
> the cops to cart away the potentially dangerous nutters (and there were a
> few wandering around who did in fact pose a real threat to the safety of
> others, none of whom bear any resemblance to the disciplined and thoughtful
> actions of the black bloc, imo.)
>
> what this means is that unity and representation -- if by that we take it
> to mean a sense of political direction and perspective on tactics, etc --
> emerges from _within and through_ movement, and not outside of or 'above'
> it. it does so through debates leading up to, during and after, which is
> why the J18 pamphlet was so important, as i hope the forthcoming one on the
> anti-wto will be.
I think amongst many of the participants of the J18 and N30 actions in London, things are already going one step further - people are discussing what one does once you have a whole pile of unity. The question of 'discipline' and 'disorder' is merely one (and not the chief) question being discussed.
I think an interesting, and important, contribution from the J18 crowd is the answer that what we do next won't always be the same. The important thing is 'self-volition' - people starting on the long, never-ending road of examing the world they live in and how they make their lives in the world (aka. 'immanent critique'). And 'self-volition' doesn't mean finding the 'right' action and doing it again and again till it bores us all to tears (although sometimes we will find necessary actions boring, no doubt).
In the process of finding these 'right actions' we will of course disagree. If I was at Seattle, and I ran into the 'black bloc, and had the time, I might have argued with them - but this certainly would not be my first priority, and I'd certainly not rat them out to the police (or even fantasise about it). Criticism should always be taken forward in a comradely manner.
In short, I think the most important thing is to build on people's sense of their right, their need, to act. I think the things which have made the realisation of this need possible like never before are:
a) self-education: a much higher level of general education in the world, and large-scale access to information have made it possible to learn 'outside the curriculum'
b) self-organisation: again, things like the Internet mean that messages can spread easily, and groups who want to get in touch with each other can do so relatively easily (the Internet itself is not the 'centre' of the network, but it does make some things a hell of a lot easier)
c) the relative irrelevance of the mainstream media: I barely read the local papers anymore, since I can keep up to date with what's going on just by reading my email every day. So the news I get is also the news I'm interested - Seattle according to LBO-talk rather than Seattle according to the bosses' press.
These are all, to some extent, material realities, which, as Rob points out, form a different terrain within which to work. Groovy!
Peter -- Peter van Heusden : pvanheus at hgmp.mrc.ac.uk : PGP key available Criticism has torn up the imaginary flowers from the chain not so that man shall wear the unadorned, bleak chain but so that he will shake off the chain and pluck the living flower. - Karl Marx
NOTE: I do not speak for the HGMP or the MRC.