Radical Assembly Discussion packs

These discussion packs in the following pages are taken from successful events held by other RA groups. Each comes with a set of readings. Rather than get an expert to come and talk at people for an hour, we suggest one person volunteers in the run up to read these sources and write a 5 minute summary to present at the start of the discussion.

The texts and images can be copied directly into Facebook events, or altered however you want – we just know these have worked well!

Structure suggestion for discussions:

Introductions, go round the circle and everyone says name

1 person gives presentation summarising the readings [5-10 minutes]

Discuss question 1 in groups of 3-4 people [10 minutes]

Discuss question 2 “ ” [10 minutes]

Discuss question 3 “ ” [10 minutes]

Break [5 mins]

Bring everyone back together for a large group discussion. [45 mins – 1h]

Vary this structure as appropriate, but it works very well as a framework. Always use ‘breakout groups’ if any meeting gets bigger than 6 people, it helps to keep it participatory and engaging.

The pre-readings are can be posted in the comments on Facebook events in the week or two running up to the event. Make it clear reading them is optional – but the person giving the introduction should definitely read and summarise them. It’s best to decide who will do this well in advance, e.g. the end of the previous meeting decide who will introduce the next discussion.

The questions should be seen just as prompts – if lots of people turn up and you have a room full of people having animated discussions it can be difficult (and not desirable) to try and force them to change suddenly. In this situation, one way is to stand up after the allocated time and say something to the room like ‘OK everyone, if you want to move on to the second question, but if you’re having good discussions feel free to keep going’. Further training in facilitation can be provided, get in contact via radicalassembly@riseup.net

Mental Health and Capitalism

For this meeting's discussion we'll be talking about mental health. Suggest we look at three broad areas:

1) Mental health at work and home under late capitalism

2) Austerity, the effect of cuts to services

3) Issues in activist circles, how to organise in ways that take care of ourselves and each other

There are some optional readings below, and please post your own in the comments if you come across anything interesting!

All welcome, whether you've been before or not! :)

Optional readings:

Effect of cuts of Britain's mental health services: https://www.vice.com/read/we-are-so-under-resourced-we-have-to-become-politicised

Mark Fisher on submission to austerity http://theoccupiedtimes.org/?p=12841

How unemployment is being rebranded as a psychological disorder http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2015/WTP059337.htm

Why we're all sick under neoliberalism https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/ray-filar/mental-health-why-were-all-sick-under-neoliberalism

Class Struggle and Mental Health: https://libcom.org/library/class-struggle-mental-health-live-fight-another-day

QUESTIONS:

1) How are mental health issues - whether at work, at home, in study - created or worsened by life under late capitalism? What are your own experiences? (if you are comfortable discussing them)

2) How has austerity played into this? Think about the effects of cuts to public services

3) How do mental health issues manifest in activist circles? How can we organise in ways that take care of ourselves and each other?

Future Without Work

Join Radical Assembly [INSERT LOCATION] for a relaxed discussion around the topic of a 'Future Without Work'. We'll be discussing topics like reduction of the working week, basic income, automation, and the value of unpaid and emotional labour.

Everyone is welcome to attend, and we have a safe space policy so everyone feels comfortable being part of the discussion. Please read: https://radicalassembly.wordpress.com/safer-spaces/

Readings:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2015/12/full-employment-tenet-classic-social-democracy-it-still-applicable and/or http://novaramedia.com/2015/10/inventing-the-future/ - As an introduction to some of the concepts.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/12/four-futures/ - Imagining four possible post-capitalist futures.

http://thedisorderofthings.com/2015/11/05/why-we-cant-let-the-machines-do-it-a-response-to-inventing-the-future/ - An interesting critique of Inventing the Future, which addresses issues around (amongst other things) the book's characterisation of 'folk politics', the positioning of racialised/gendered forms of work, and cyborgs!

https://caringlabor.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/silvia-federici-wages-against-housework - On emotional/caring labour. Wages for housework as a revolutionary demand.

QUESTIONS:

Discuss each topic in turn, e.g. pros and cons, examples from the real world etc:

1) Basic Income

2) Reducing the working week

3) Full automation

4) Valuing unpaid and emotional labour

Borders and Migration

The refugee crisis is one of the most important political issues facing Europe. Millions of people, particularly in the Middle East, have been forced to flee their homes in the face of war, with many thousands travelling to Europe in the hope of finding refuge. Why is the British government doing so little to help these people? Why has the European Union invested so heavily in border controls and enforcement policies (so-called ‘Fortress Europe’) designed to prevent the movement of people from outside the EU? What are the connections between the global borders system, capitalism, imperialism and the refugee crisis? At this meeting

Optional readings

History of borders: http://eutopiamagazine.eu/en/susanne-rau/issue/history-border

Analysis of the EU border crisis http://libcom.org/blog/migration-refugees-labour-21022016

Introduction to the situation in Calais https://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/introduction-to-calais/

Effects of current immigration narrative https://mediadiversified.org/2015/07/03/brutal-hostile-environment/

Podcast on refugees and borders (59m 28s) http://novaramedia.com/2015/03/at-europes-borders-interview-with-dan-trilling/

Working Illegally (30min documentary): "Looks behind politicians' rhetoric, the closed walls and barbed wire of UK border enforcement, to expose the reality of immigration detention, raising pressing questions concerning its nature and purpose." https://vimeo.com/126678906

QUESTIONS:

1. What are borders? Do they exist only where two countries meet, or do they appear elsewhere? (think about immigration enforcement)

2. Why do borders exist? What is their purpose under the global system? And why are Britain and the EU doing so little to help, despite their rhetoric around freedom and equality?

3. How can we challenge the violence produced by borders, and the narratives which support them?

NHS and Health Struggles

The crisis in the NHS has moved doctors and nurses to unprecedented levels of militancy and radical action. Solidarity with this movement is essential. But to improve how we resist, and also to develop a positive model of the healthcare of the future, we need to understand the crisis in more detail – and the NHS itself. This discussion will look at some of the structure of the NHS and ask whether we should engage via official channels, or make the struggle on our own terms

Readings:

https://libcom.org/blog/room-breathe-defence-nhs-30072013

https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs

http://wire.novaramedia.com/tag/nhs/

Understanding the structure of the NHS: https://rasoutheastlondon.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/rasel-health-discussion1.docx

Questions

1. How should we engage with the current structural issues in the NHS?

a) Can we be critical of the NHS? b) What would an ideal future healthcare system look like?

2. How should we engage with ongoing workers’ struggle? a. Is it worth engaging with official public engagement mechanisms?b. How can we help support the Junior Doctors dispute beyond attend-

ing pickets and retweeting information? Consider its role in broader struggles against capitalism etc.

Intersectionality

The Radical Assembly’s first principle commits us to “support revolutionary movement against all systems of oppression, especially when led by those most affected. This includes but is not limited to ableism, capitalism, homophobia, imperialism, patriarchy, racism and transphobia.”

Rather than seeing all these systems as separate, it’s important to look at the ways they are related to each other. Another way of putting this is with the term ‘intersectionality’. This is a concept used to describe the ways in which oppressive power structures (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another. This meeting will discuss the idea of intersectionality and how we can put it into practice.Readings:

Feminist Fightback article on intersectionality: http://www.feministfightback.org.uk/is-intersectionality-just-another-form-of-identity-politics/

Kimberle Crenshaw interview (person who coined term 'intersectionality'): http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2014/04/kimberl-crenshaw-intersectionality-i-wanted-come-everyday-metaphor-anyone-could

Article on Black Lives Matter activist, Marissa Sanders: http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/08/11/22680645/in-her-own-words-the-political-beliefs-of-the-protester-who-interrupted-bernie-sanders

Video interview with Organization for a Free Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRifp00DkmI

bell hooks: Understanding Patriarchy http://imaginenoborders.org/pdf/zines/UnderstandingPatriarchy.pdf

QUESTIONS:

a) What are the positives and negatives of using the idea of intersectionality to understand power?

b) How can we use these ideas within our groups, in how we approach each other, to improve inclusion?

c) How can these ideas inform our strategy and the way we engage in action?

Austerity and Global Struggle

In the UK we have seen continuous cuts to the welfare state, a rise of homelessness, increased number of people on Zero-hours contracts, poverty pay and threat of slashing child Tax-credits.

With a rise of Austerity there have been more people talking about it, organising in our communities and protesting against the measures. We have also started to see attempts by the state to crack down on those organising and protesting against austerity measures. (e.g. Introducing Trade Union Bill to make it more difficult for unions to strike)

At this meeting we will be discussing three broad areas:

1) What is austerity? Why is it happening?2) How does austerity manifest in our communities and society?3) How do we organise against cuts and austerity measures? Think local, national, and across borders

After the discussion we will have the planning part of the meeting, to discuss and organise future events, actions, proposals etc. Please comment with any items for the agenda.

All are welcome.

Readings:

The Austerity Delusion – Paul Krugman http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/apr/29/the-austerity-delusion

Transnational Social Strike http://www.transnational-strike.info/2015/10/26/statement-from-1st-transnational-social-strike/

Silvia Federici (Section 3 in particular) on how neoliberal restructuring of the state is taking place across the globe - 'austerity' for us, 'structural adjustment' for the global south. http://endofcapitalism.com/2013/05/29/a-feminist-critique-of-marx-by-silvia-federici/

http://stopausterity.eu/en/news/

Austerity Explained – the case against the cuts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6snNTPMuWk

Expanding the Commons

We live in a society where private property is overwhelming. It is a rarity that there is publicly common owned land. We have little places to meet, socialise and organise without there exchange of money.

With large property developers buying off what little land there is, we believe that there should be more accessible land and spaces for people to meet. From Fabric Nightclub being closed, to disability and day center's being closed and land sold off for profit. We believe it is essential that we fight for the Commons and that they are distributed evenly and are accessible in our society to everyone, not just the wealthy.

Come along for an evening of discussion and how to find out more about expanding Commons and what we can do as activists to organise for more commonly owned areas.

1. What commons to do you experience in your day to day life?

2. What forces destroy the commons?

3. How can we expand the commons into new areas of society?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons

http://evonomics.com/the-only-woman-to-win-the-nobel-prize-economics-debunked/

https://www.opendemocracy.net/freeform-tags/digital-commons

http://novaramedia.com/2016/09/23/3-reasons-the-campaign-to-savefabric-is-political/