The importance of unconventional actions

Four years ago, between 500,000 and 800,000 people mobilized in New York City to protest the Republican National Convention. This year during the last week of August, and the first week of September, the 2008 Democratic and Republican Conventions will meet again, and like four years ago, will be opposed.

This year, anti-authoritarian groups are organizing under the name “Unconventional Action” to nationally mobilize direct action during the DNC in Denver and the RNC in St. Paul. The Unconventional Action network, made up of autonomous groups in cities across the country, including Rochester, unify under the following principles:

∑ Reject all forms of hierarchy including capitalism, party communism, patriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism, and so-called representational politics;

∑ Organize on a non-hierarchical, consensus-based basis that promotes autonomy, solidarity, grass-roots involvement, and the agency of those most affected by each decision

∑ Embrace a diversity of tactics

∑ Do not condemn any action on the grounds that it is illegal alone.

Diversity of tactics, a phrase that makes liberals and moderates squirm a little, references tactics ranging from legal actions to civil disobedience. Unconventional Action organizers argue that by honoring different tactics, activists can create a mass action structure that is multi-tiered, creative and effective.

In Chicago, a queer collective named Bash Back has begun organizing queer and transfolk around a similar premise. Inspired by groups like ACT UP, the Gay Liberation Front, and Queer Nation, Bash Back self identifies as short-term group, with hopes of involving into a long-term vision after the RNC and DNC demonstrations. In a recent article in The Windy City Times, Bash Back founder Beau Vyne expressed concern over the lack of visibility of queer activism. “A lot of horrible things are happening to our community right now, both on a systematic level through government policy but also in the streets and in the neighborhood, violence against queer and trans people is at an all-time high, and it’s really disturbing.”

The sentiment of Bash Back is that, although lobbying is an important tactic, it is invisible to a good deal of the queer community. By organizing mass actions, queer visibility and connection to issues such as war, poverty, and globalization is increased.

It is important to understand the value of actions like these, and the significance of this type of dissent. I vote, I have lobbied, and I have worked on voter registration campaigns and lobby mobilization efforts. That said, it has become increasingly difficult for me to fully believe in electoral politics. Neo-colonialism, privatization, militarization, free trade, and other offshoots of capitalism are not effectively addressed by our current political system, and neither the Democratic or Republican parties have adequately addressed these issues.

Although I will wholeheartedly fight for legislation protecting our families and our rights, I can’t deny that problems of inequity go further than lack of legislation. Actions like these are important because visibility is brought to the fact that representation is not representative of the majority of Americans, that the economic framework of our country is not creating healthy communities, and that our global trade strategy is hurting us.

For more information check out www.unconventionalaction.org or www.myspace.com/bashback