I'm working on an essay for my political science class and I thought some of you might find the topic interesting, I figured I'd post the outline here and see what you guys think. I intend to use this thread to brainstorm - feel free to critique or challenge these ideas, post books related to it, branch off and form your own theories, or ignore it altogether. We've talked about anarchism, Occupy, revolutions, direct democracy etc. before but I don't think we've ever done it in a way where we've tried to tie it all together theorize a new movement.
I only have a limit of 11 pages (double spaced) so the essay that I hand in to my professor won't cover everything mentioned in the outline below, but I'll post my theory in it's entirety here on DV. I'll also post it in black font so it's easier to read. :P
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Introduction:
• What would be the most appropriate way to handle a revolutionary movement in North America?
‣ Two approaches to dissent: violent and non-violent (reframed as hard power and soft power).
• The maturation of a movement
‣ Three key phases: Isolated expressions of dissent -> mass mobilizations -> vanguardism
| Approaches to Dissent | Isolated Expressions of Dissent | Mass Mobilizations | Vanguard |
| Hard Power (militarism) | Vandalism, "black blocs," riots, melees, etc. | The Long Hot Summers | Black Panther Party |
| Soft Power (diplomacy) | Voting, petitions, picket lines, boycotts, strikes, etc. | Occupy Movement | ??? |
Hard Power:
• Isolated expressions of dissent:
‣ Very brief description of radically disruptive incidents in the context of the 60's
• Mobilization:
‣ Despite being a powerful expression of dissent, spontaneous uprisings are politically impotent because: 1) they lack illegitimacy in the eyes of the moderate majority, thus failing to win wide support 2) they fail to put forward solutions 3) the equally violent response that is typical of the state in such circumstances
• Vanguard:
‣ Intro for the Black Panther Party
‣ How it capitalized on the sociopolitical unrest triggered by the urban rebellions
‣ Political history (up to peak of power)
‣ Organizational power
‣ Unraveling (state repression, difficulty maintaining discipline, ideological split, changing political climate, etc.)
‣ Why such an organization was effective in the late 60's and early 70's, but is no longer a feasible option. It's emphasis on hard power is identified as it's primary weakness
Soft Power:
• Isolated expressions of dissent:
‣ Very brief overview of legitimate/non-violent forms of activism typically used by today's activists and their ineffectiveness in the context of isolated efforts:
• Mobilization:
‣ Intro for North America's largest mass mobilization in recent years - the Occupy Movement
‣ Context for the mobilization (conditions, lead up, etc.)
‣ Political history up to peak of power
‣ Aims/objectives of the movement
‣ Organizational methods
‣ Unraveling (internal failings, state repression, media spin, etc.)
‣ Lasting impact (?)
• Vanguard:
‣ Conclude that there currently is no mature model for non-violent resistance at this time. It does not have a vanguard party like the BPP... nor should it. The BPP had an authoritative/personalistic leadership style and a top-down hierarchical structure that made it far too rigid and unable to effectively adapt to the changing political climate of its time, ultimately causing it's collapse.
‣ Rather than an elite vanguard that exercises central political control over a movement, soft-power resistance requires a set of practices, ideas, and concepts of operations with an emphasis on "horizontal" principals. In other words, a "grand strategy" that can be adopted by various pressure groups.
oo‣‣ Should a vanguard organization emerge, it may guide or influence the movement by best exemplifying/practicing this grand strategy, but it would not lead or dictate it's direction the way the Panthers did with the Black Power Movement.
‣ A sense of constitutionalism would provide this grand strategy with the necessary structure and consistency, while horizontal (and anarchist?) principals would offer the flexibility it would need in order for it to be truly accessible to every individual and pressure group
‣ "A revolutionary movement becomes significant politically only when it is able to win the loyalty of allies, articulating a broader insurgency." - Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci
oo‣‣ This "grand strategy" should unify otherwise disparate pressure groups by providing them with a similar model of organization
Conclusion:
• "No revolutionary movement of political significance will gain a foothold in the United States again until a group of revolutionaries develops insurgent practices that seize the political imagination of a large segment of the people and successively draw support from other constituencies, creating a broad insurgent alliance that is difficult to repress or appease. This has not happened in the United States since the heyday of the Black Panther Party and may not happen again for a very long time." - Black Against Empire
• If any radical change is to be made in North America, political activists will have to further develop soft-power strategies that build on the strengths of the Occupy mobilization while compensating for its weaknesses. An overarching grand strategy with established principals and tactics that can be adopted by numerous pressure groups, rather than a single centralized vanguard party, may offer the structure that the Occupy Movement lacked (while retaining its flexibility)
Sources:
• Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr. Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party. University of California Press, 2012
• Graeber, David. The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement. Spiegel & Grau, 2013
• Chomsky, Noam. Occupy. Zuccotti Park Press, 2012
• Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. New York: International Publishers, c1971, 1978
• Booker, Christopher Brian. "I Will Wear No Chain!": A Social History of African-American Males. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000
