A possible next step... (IFB list, 27.1.00)

Hi everyone,

it looks as though we've run out of things to say about this for the moment, but time is ticking if we want to get a second one together....

So in the name of moving things on, I want to suggest a vision for IFB 2 which I think includes the various different things people have suggested, and ask who's willing to help. This doesn't mean saying "this is written in stone", just that at this point we need to be discussing things practically and starting to work on some of them.

I don't know if anybody'll register interest, or everyone! But I think from talking to a couple of people face-to-face this is the next thing to do! So, taking a deep breath:

Ireland from Below two: a vision.

Why IFB?

IFB is about making links between different radical movements
That means it's about moving towards tackling underlying issues, not just surface problems
It's about exploring different possibilities for action

Why now?

The Celtic Tiger is reshaping activism and "issues" across the board; this is a good time for making new kinds of links and rethinking what we're doing
Many activists are suffering from burnout and loss of vision; there are more professionals and fewer volunteers, and at the same time loads of people who want to do something but aren't convinced by what they're hearing and seeing: this is a good time for rethinking how we do things
At the same time the limits of "1990s Ireland" are being reached (e.g. in the new partnership talks); social movements are among the first to feel the winds of whatever's coming next....

What should it be like?

An open event with a broad cross-section of participants from different movements and hopefully some social movements academics! Like last year, trying to meet people we don't already know....
Less prescriptive and individual in format (ie not forcing everyone into giving a presentation), more about communication and development of discussions (trying to get people involved in different ways) - More time and (head)space: fewer papers overall, running it during the week instead of at the weekend so people are less tired.

How should we do it?

Organise around discussion sessions more than individual presentations (not stopping these, but not insisting on them as we did this time)
Make more use of infotables, material etc.
Use Ballyconnell for the main event (because of size) and Killorglin for a planning session or follow-up event, as needed.
Hold it the week before the Manchester "Alternative Futures" conference (so try for the 17th - 19th April) so that people from outside these islands can combine the two (and have a weekend in Dublin!)

Ideas

Arrive Monday 5 pm: welcome, setup, cooking!
Monday 8 pm: kickoff / intro session; info material of all kinds

Tuesday morning: "structuring / goal-setting" session + 1 other
Tuesday afternoon: 2 or 3 sessions
Tuesday evening: 1 or 2 sessions

Wednesday morning: 2 sessions
Wednesday afternoon: "feedback / what next" session; then clean up and go!

Themes:

The basic theme coming out of our discussions seems to be "how": Richard's question of how we get from here to there, Isolde's question of what's worked for different movements, the non- participants' question of how they can do anything worthwhile..... Here are some possible themes:

Radicals and partnershipping: how does it work, what are the alternatives, does it have a future?
Global activism: how do Seattle or Chiapas connect to our own movements?
Showing that things can be different: how (far) do model projects and communities, alternative lifestyles and counter cultures, and good examples generally make a difference?
Is that it? Does the year 2000 mark the end-point of social development and political change in Ireland? Have "we" won in some sense (laws, recognition, language, culture)? Or have we won a battle and lost the war?
Changing the world and changing ourselves: the personal is political; the politics of "ethical consumption" etc.; how do we live with our activism and how does it change us; what are the links between personal and global transformation?
The politics of everyday life: how do "activism", "movements", "issues", "subcultures", "the third sector" and all the rest of it fit into everyday life (our own and other people's)? How well connected are we to the people we want to connect to and why? What ways is everyday work, leisure, consumption, politics changing and where does that leave us? How do the "inactive" relate to "ordinary people" and to "activists"?
One of the things to do in a planning session would be to try and thrash out a workable set of discussion topics and think (based on the ideas coming in and participants) how these could be handled. We could think of a mixture between workshops with a facilitator and groups but relatively little "material"; seminars with a presenter and a lot of discussion; conference-style sessions with a series of different presenters; and hopefully other things (games, practical sessions, whatever) - depending on topics and participants!

OK, that might help focus things a bit! If you're interested at all in getting involved, let me know and we can see what of this works and what needs to be changed, start talking about the details, and get into some of the practicalities (for example, we'd need to book the hostel and get out a leaflet / poster pretty soon if we're to do it within the kind of timeframe suggested here!)

If we get a reasonable number of interested people, maybe we can take a day or two in Killorglin some time soon to brainstorm - or maybe we can handle it on this group, or face-to-face. Depends who's interested, really!

I'll shut up now.....

take care,

Laurence