What is Spring?
Spring is a group
run by activists who met outside the US Embassy in
Tokyo in 2003 the day before Iraq was illegally attacked.The group was
established to develop the social, economic and political consciences
of participants.
This website serves as an information portal for people who want to
become active in Tokyo and find out more about things going on in
Japan. We run film and discussion events once a month. We
show documentaries and fiction with strong social, economic and
political content, after which open, democratic discussions follow in
which every participant is given the chance and encouraged to speak.
The idea is to demonstrate in a rudimentary way, that ordinary working
people are capable of discussing and taking collective decisions on
issues that directly affect them without the guidance of bosses,
managers and supervisors. We are interested in workers councils and
horizontal organising and believe that working people who do their jobs
in real, practical terms are most able to decide, collectively, how
their workplaces should be run.The premise is that if societies around
the world were organised according to collective principles then crimes
against humanity like the Iraq war would simply not be allowed to
happen.This is obviously linked to wider reading and an appreciation of
philosophy and political economy, and we try to encourage people to
read in these areas.
As Spring is not a
workplace, we try to promote activism and encourage
people to come forward with projects, workshops and talks about
alternative ways of organising society, or simply to provide current,
up to date information on specific issues in addition to proposals for
protests and demonstrations. Each issue is discussed and decisions on
how to proceed are reached collectively by those participants who take
an active role in each activity. By working this way, we hope to
demonstrate that workplaces could be run along similar
lines.Essentially, we are about ordinary working peoples empowerment,
education and organisation. Liberation is a matter for future
realisation through collective effort. We try to encourage networking
between different groups that are concerned with social justice and we
oppose sectarianism.
Workers Councils and
Abridged Spring
Participatory
Guidelines
As
new faces continue to appear at our
meetings, it's necessary
for us to outline what Spring is from time to time and to encourage
people to read. With this in mind, below there is a definition of
Workers Council. We've included it
in this message as we
always refer to
workers democracy
and horizontal organising
of
workplaces at our meetings. Some people are fully conversant with the
terms and understand their origin and implications for organising
social movements today, but others only have a vague idea or none at
all, and so take a little time to read it. If you're interested, from
there you can go on to read/look at the following:
1.
Workers Councils by
Anton Pannekoek, available
from
www.akpress.org
2. An interview with
Paul Mattick about workers
councils and trade unions
and political parties at
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2379/echmatt.htm
3.
Parecon:Life after
Capitalism by Michael Albert
also available from
AKPress
or www.versobooks.com
The
above vary in difficulty and specialisation and some of you may find
them dense or obscure depending on your familiarity with alternative
politics, but take a look if you haven't already. Also they shouldn't
be taken as black and white beliefs of the Spring founders, but rather
as guides. In addition you could look at the following sites to get
started, all of which are packed with a variety of material:
1. http://www.indymedia.org
2. http://www.democracynow.org
3. http://www.marxists.org
4. http://libcom.org/
Please
keep reading or scroll down to the Spring
Participatory guidelines, as this gives you the nuts and bolts of what
we do.
Workers' council
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( not a definitive source but a good
overview of Worker's Councils - we don't rely on wikipedia ).
(Redirected
from
Workers Council)
A
workers'
council is a
council,
or deliberative body, composed of
working
class or
proletarian
members. While the term may include instances where employers negotiate
with workers, or workers deliberate without power, the most common use
of the term is to describe self-governing workers without bosses.
The key features of
a workers' council include the phenomenon that a single place of work,
such as a
factory,
school,
or
farm, is
controlled collectively by the workers of that workplace. There is no
manager,
or the manager is directly under the control of the workers' council,
and the composition of the workers council is determined by the workers
who comprise it.
Workers' councils
have also affiliated and
formed higher bodies for coordinating between one another. These bodies
usually operate on the principle of recallable
delegates; that is, elected delegates may be
recalled at any time through a vote in a form of
impeachment.
Many
Marxists
believe that workers' councils embody the fundamental principles of
socialism,
such as workers' control over production and workers' control of the
state. Indeed, some have described this as "socialism from below",
which they counterpose against what they see as "socialism from above"
endorsed by
social democratic ideology and
Stalinism.
According to this view, socialism from above is carried out by a
centralized state run by a bureaucratic apparatus in the interests of
this apparatus, while socialism from below represents the
self-administration and self-rule of the working class.
[edit] See also
Spring
Participatory Guidelines
With regard to the website the principles are
simple. Anyone who actively
participates at meetings
or who takes a keen interest in Spring online is entitled to make
contributions either by way of sugggestions for improvement to the site
or by posting articles and discussion topics as well as media updates
and alerts. The submissions/posts
should fall
within the Spring remit, and should be non-fiction or fiction with
strong social, economic and political
content. In addition there should be a focus on social justice in order
to orient the discussions towards redressing imbalances in the
mainstream media and capitalist political economy.This is because
Spring was set up to promote workers democracy.
Film
and Discussion
Meetings/Demos and Campaigns
The
following are general principles agreed upon over the last 3-4 years
and which we try to follow, with varying degrees of success.
1.
Anyone who attends a Spring event is entitled to suggest a film for a
future event. The film titles will be noted and voted on by e-mail or
if possible by a show of hands at events.
2. The film must fall
within the Spring remit, namely that the content of the film can be
non-fiction or fiction with strong social, economic and political
content. In addition there should be a focus on social justice in order
to orient the discussions towards redressing imbalances in the
mainstream media and capitalist political economy.This is because
Spring was set up to promote workers democracy. If another type of film
is proposed, the reasons should be explained and a democratic vote at a
Spring event will be taken.
3.
When national or international protests, strikes and campaigns that the
people of Spring deem to be important and worthy of support are
approaching, if possible, the films should reflect the issues at hand.
This is to encourage activism among the Spring participants on
demonstrations and campaigns.Such films will be given priority.
NB.With
regard to funds, Spring doesn't have any. All the films, literature,
reading lists, hand outs etc.. are paid for at the moment by the
founding members.Essentially a
free public information service is being provided by these people and
so the following was decided:
4.A
fixed fee for events will NOT be charged. Instead, voluntary
contributions and donations will be requested at events. A receptacle
will be provided so that participants at events can make discreet,
anonymous financial contributions according to their means or to what
they feel to be appropriate.The amount will be totalled up and
announced to the group at the end of each event and then e-mailed to
everyone. The money will be kept in a lock box.Expenditure will be
notified by e-mail and receipts for
photocopying etc will be provided for inspection by anyone who
contributes to the group funds, upon request.
5.With regard to a
Resources, all materials used by Spring are available for participants
to borrow and use subject to conditions that regular participants
should understand and honour.
6.Participants
are free to suggest lectures, seminars, teach-ins and other events that
they think may be appropriate in helping to develop social
consciousness.
7. By using the open
discussion format the idea
is that everyone has the oportunity to speak regardless of who they may
be or whatever their viewpoints are. A chairperson will be decided on
by the group before the discussion begins and that person is then
responsible for seeing that everyone has the opportunity to speak on
the issue at hand, at first in order and without interruption. After
that an open discussion on any issue raised from initial comments
should be opened up and those participants should raise their hand and
the chaiperson should ensure that they speak and have the
opportunity
to respond to questions or contentious statements.
8.
The point of the Film and Discussion sessions is therefore to
demonstrate in a rudimentary way that ordinary people can discuss
issues openly and make collective decisions. If the same format is
applied to the workplace when important decisions that affect workers
and their families are to be made, workers will feel valued and
empowered and actually control the means of production. Management and
bosses can be done away with, and where specialised knowledge or
guidance is required, those individuals are appointed by the people in
the workplace via open discussion and voting. Such appointed
individuals are always subject to recall/replacement. With this in
mind, although Spring is not a workplace and decisions don't have to be
made after movie events, at Spring their is no leadership, and
organisers do not carry any authority over anyone who participates.
Accordingly, Spring does not have "members" it has participants. It is
merely requested that participants act in good faith. When Spring
participates in demonstrations or other events, decisions on what is to
be done are made as above, by the people who attend the organisational
meetings.
9.
Networking. The biggest problem ordinary people face is their own
disorganisation or splintered organisation. Various groups exist with
various aims but often work at cross purposes or solely for their own
interest group. At Spring we are opposed to sectarianism and strongly
encourage dialogue and cooperation between different groups as well as
debate. Networking and solidarity are key themes. For this reason we
are happy to provide a platform for other groups who have similar aims
as ourselves or who work for social justice, providing that the
relationship is reciprocal. Again, acting in good faith is vital.
Spring will not do things which may be detrimental to its
functioning
and therefore materials will only be made available to other groups and
individuals after Spring has had priority. In this sense also, with
regard to promotional activities Spring events will be given priority
over other events ocurring at the same time.
10.
Networking events. When proposals to work with other groups on
campaigns or demos etc. are made those proposals will be discussed by
Spring participants, as much information as possible will be gathered
and again, meeting participants will decide on whether or not an event
should be supported and what should be done.
In
Solidarity!
Spring
