THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE 15-M UPRISING
Some thoughts about a proposal for political and action strategies
that could be a new step forward.

After more than 3 weeks of massive mobilization, the big question that floats in the air for all the camp-outs and the assemblies of the 15M movement is: “now what?”

There is a lot of hope placed on this mobilization, but it is difficult to reach a proposal, agreed upon by consensus, that is strong enough to ensure the continuity of the movement and is also worthy of what we have seen so far.

Days go by, and this much-awaited proposal becomes more and more urgent, since many people need to know where we are heading towards, and above all we need to continue believing that our joint path will take us forward, that this social uprising will not back down.

This is why it is crucial to learn, assembly by assembly, how to make the best decisions in ways that are inclusive and motivating, that give us credibility and help us look ahead into a better future.

For this reason, some individuals who feel totally identified with the movement share this document, which we consider a ‘Proposal for political and action strategies for the 15-M movement’, including some thoughts that help to understand the proposals. The proposals themselves are formulated as a “Guide for strategic action”, so that they can be useful to each of the assemblies who are debating these same issues at this time.

SOME PRIOR THOUGHTS TO GUIDE AN ACTION STRATEGY

1. BALANCE BETWEEN PROPOSALS FOR REFORM AND ACTIONS OF RUPTURE

We do not need to choose between one or the other: we can do it all, and each has its own timing.

We understand that, in order to find this balance (which is vital for the unity of the movement), we need to build a methodology of action that includes the different strategies and that places them in spaces & times that allow them to strengthen each other instead of competing against each other.

Therefore we propose the following:

Let us consider all the demands towards political institutions that have emerged from all the people's assemblies, encouraging but not forcing them to be reached by consensus – what has been defined at the “camp-outs” as a minimum consensus.

Secondly, we would set a reasonable deadline for politicians to respond to our demands. This is an important point if we do not want to wear ourselves out - and at the same time it will help strenghten our message. People who are sceptical about demanding things from politicians will participate more whole-heartedly if the demands include a deadline for answers, because it shows we are not going to ask the same things over and over and wait forever.

In parallel, we would work on reaching social consensus around these demands, carrying out a people’s referendum about each demand to demostrate the huge support which legitimises them.

With this initiative (demands with clear dead lines), and aside from what we may think personally as individuals, we want to generate a united action that encompasses the different trends within the movement, opening up a space for reformist demands, but also setting a starting point for calls for more ground-breaking actions against the established system.

This is not a new idea, as it was already presented in the publication “Podemos vivir sin capitalismo” (“We can live withouth capitalism”), 2 years ago. (See: http://www.sincapitalismo.net/es/publi17m/podemos-vivir-sin-capitalismo)

Should the establishment not take up our demans by the assigned date, and depending on the amount of support achieved by these proposals, we will stop recognizing the politicians chosen in the elections as legitimate representatives of the people, and therefore we shall begin collective actions of civil desobedience, in order to solve directly the problems of the people.

What we propose therefore is deadline-based demands before the institutions, and breaking away from the system after the agreed date.

2. DEFENCE OF A DECENTRALIZED MODEL FOR THE MOVEMENT

We have multiple voices, all of them are ours, and none represents us all.

The very idea of coming up with a document that represents all the voices within the movement is a trap, since it is based partly on paradigms we wish to break away from. It would seem like we need a single voice, when it is actually the establishment who needs to have spokespeople with single voices.

It is true that, at the internal level of a process, it is useful to have a consensus of four main points of agreement that can give us all a feeling of unity of the process itself, but it is not realistic to think that a truly participative process can happen that allows all assemblies to reach consensus on the same minimum points of agreement, given the present reality of our self-organizing movement, especially considering that there may be many cultural elements that differentiate us.

It is important also that each assembly has its own reflection process and can reach their own consensus points. If they are based on a document from somewhere else, let it be because they have chosen it that way, and not because of any imposition.

That is why, methodologically, we propose that our public strategy takes into account that we may reach different consensus points in different regions, and therefore the results of people’s referendums could vary from one place to another.

This sould not stop the politicians from being capable of reading different manifestos, each with its own nuances. When we make our demands, it is the politicians who should adapt to our diversity, and not us who adapt to their limited mindframes.

3. WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF RESPECTING THE DIFFERENT RYTHMS OF DEBATE AND ACTION. We go slowly because we plan to reach far.

Just like the points of minimum consensus, deadlines to generate consensus and to embark on actions should also adapt to each specific reality.

We need to respect each assembly’s decisions regarding when to finish a debate and carry out an action.

And if we want joint dates, let’s discuss them. It is highly likely that assemblies will join common dates, as it goes when there is a call for action, but it is important that everyone recognises that each assembly has the freedom to choose and that they may decide something different after reaching a different conclusion.

Therefore, if an assembly wants to coincide with other assemblies, it can prioritize the choosing of dates to coincide with other decision-making spaces. If it prefers to prioritize, however, that its timetable follow its own internal rhythm, its members will have to accept that the dates will not necessarily coincide with other assemblies’.

A GUIDE FOR STRATEGIC ACTION
Due to the aforementioned, we believe that any plan for the future, especially regarding political demands, has to include a series of questions that need to be answered as a part of the plan itself.
Moreover we believe that we have 3 lines of action that are complementary, and that we cannot give any of them up, in order for the movement to be inclusive enough towards the diversity of concerns.

1. FROM THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLIES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT
1.1 What do we demand from the political powers?
1.2 What process do we intend to follow in order for these demands to be taken on and legitimised by many more people?
1.3 How much time do we give the relevant establishment to respond to our demands?
1.4 What are we prepared to do if we reach the agreed deadline and said political powers have done nothing with regards to our demands?

2. FROM THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLIES TO THE PEOPLE
2.1 Which decisions do we make as a people's assembly?
2.2 What process do we intend to follow in order for these decisions to be taken on and legitimised by many more people?
2.3 From when will our decisions be applicable? If we have to decide on a starting date, which one would it be?
2.4 If the powers-that-be infringe the people's decisions, what shall we do?

3. THE MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLIES, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW PRACTICES THAT ALLOW US TO CHANGE OUR LIVES

3.1 What initiatives should we carry out?
3.2 How much commitment does each one of us intend to take on, in order to help these ideas become a reality?

AN ACTION STRATEGY AS A PROPOSAL AND AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO FOLLOW OF THE GUIDE

We believe that providing possible answers to these questions could be a good practical tool, and at the same time could be a proposal that helps to bring together people with diverse concerns.

1. FROM THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLIES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT
1.1 What do we demand from the political powers?
Our demands will be the folllowing, coinciding often with the debates that are taking place at the people's assemblies:

a. Recognition of town, village and neighbourhood squares as agoras or places of assembly where the people can participate in political assemblies.

b. Reforms to the electoral laws

c. The end of privileges for politicians

d. The end of privileges for the financial powers. Banks must not be rescued.

e. Right for all to a decent home over and above the right to benefit financially from property

f. Free and guaranteed access to public services (education, health, transport)

g. Dismantling of nuclear power stations

h. No more use of police force against the people to maintain the established order

Each of these proposals will be defined and agreed in a participative manner between all the people at the people's assemblies who wish to adhere to this action plan.

1.2 What process do we intend to follow in order for these demands to be taken on and legitimised by many more people?
We will carry out public consultations that allow each person to adhere to each of these demands separately. These consultations will be carried out throughout the month of September 2011, and their results will be made public in the beginning of October.

1.3 How much time do we give the relevant establishment to respond to our demands?
We will give them a deadline: November 5th.

1.4 What are we prepared to do if we reach the established deadline and said political powers have done nothing with regards to our demands?
Should they not respond within the agreed timeframe, we will no longer recognise political representatives as legitimate. We will in turn stop them from replacing the people's sovereignty by carrying out mass civil disobedience actions and we will initiate constituent assembly processes, open to direct participation by all citizens.

2. FROM THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLIES TO THE PEOPLE
2.1 Which decisions do we make as a people's assembly?
a) To recover village and town squares as spaces for political participation and as meeting points. All the squares where the 15M movement has camped and assembled must become agoras.
b) No more evictions. Not a single eviction of people from their main residence must be allowed.
c) Block all attacks by politicians to social rights, such as the cuts that are planned in education and public health.

2.2 What process do we intend to follow in order for these decisions to be taken on and legitimised by many more people?
a) It is legitimised by the right we have to direct political participation.
b) It is automatically legitimised due to the basic right to a home, which is above and beyond the right to property. Even more legitimacy can be obtained by carrying out a public consultation.
c) It is legitimised by the fact that social rights are the minimum indicators of welbeing which were achieved after many years of struggles. Even more legitimacy can be obtained by carrying out a public consultation.

2.3 From when will our decisions be applicable? If we have to decide on a starting date, which one would it be?
a) This decision should be applied according to when each assembly decides it is the right moment to transform camp-outs into agoras.
b) This decision must be applied immediately
c) This decision must be applied immediately, with action days such as the 15th of June in front of the Catalonian Parliament.

2.4 If the powers-that-be infringe the people's decisions, what shall we do?
a) Should political powers wish to remove us from the square, we will recover it for the people as soon as we can, as we have done up to now.
b) If the banks continue to evict people who would lose their main home, we will carry out campaigns to boicot them. We will specifically organize for people to take their money out of these banks.
c) Should we not be able to block these decisions from being made in parliaments, and should institutions want to make these cuts effective, we commit to finding and applying ways for civil disobedience, such as organizing to make sure no-one is without hospital assistance for economic reasons or reasons of origin.

3. THE MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLIES, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW PRACTICES THAT ALLOW US TO CHANGE OUR LIVES

3.1 What initiatives should we carry out?
We will self-organize step by step in all aspects of our lives that we possibly can, in order to end our dependency on banks, big capitalist enterprises and the state.
Many of the people who are proposing this plan already belong to such initiatives, such as EcoXarxes and the Catalonian Integral Cooperative (Cooperativa Integral Catalana).
New proposals to this effect are also emerging from the movement itself. For example, the agora in Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona is building a cooperative for interest-free loans.

3.2 How much commitment does each one of us intend to take on, in order to help these ideas become a reality?
Each one of us needs to respond to this question.

If you want to participate in developing or spreading this strategic plan, or you wish to adhere to it, send us an email at: estrategiadaccio@podem.cat

and tell us how you are participating in this movement (eg. I spread news online, I take part in the people's assembly of my neighbourhood or I am a member of the working group that deals with content).

As well as participating individually, you could be of great help spreading these thoughts and proposals in your work group and/or your assembly.

Should your assembly not agree completely with this strategy, we encourage you as an assembly to use it as a template to rewrite and publish your own action strategy.

Cooperativa Integral Catalana
https://cooperativa.ecoxarxes.cat