May 2002
In the contradiction between the need for locally relevant and initiated campaigns and the value of continental coordination and leadership we used to err on the side of more continental leadership and coordination. Through practice I would sum up that we have learned that this didn't actually lead to more or better agitation work. The AM would harass MIM and RAIL branches for reports on what they were doing and/or put out demands that branches focus on X, Y and Z campaigns. For the most part this led to frustration on the part of the various AMs who couldn't understand why people didn't respond to requests for information or take more initiative on campaigns. Over the past year we have been implementing resolutions focused on branches doing more agitation work, and these resolutions have led to more locally-initiated campaigns. Rather than writing reports on agitation work they are doing, or following continental leadership on what agitation work they should be doing, this move towards more local initiative is consistent with the need to get the masses involved in relevant and winnable battles.
Sharing agitation materials and information is useful, but campaigns tend to be locally initiated and need to be locally relevant to capture the imagination of the masses (and to be potentially winnable).
In summing up these lessons, this year the Agitation Ministry has focused on providing support to various MIM and RAIL branches when needed/requested, and on providing accessible agitation information and materials while encouraging everyone to sum up their local battles for continental benefit. big part of the work to make agitation materials accessible was pulling together all of our big campaign materials into one agitation web page.
Our best agitation leadership continentally comes from the MIM and RAIL members who initiate campaigns themselves and write these up for MIM Notes. Some are continental, like prison censorship, but more are local, like the UC divest campaign. As we focus more and more on local campaigns, the agitation ministry becomes more of a repository for information and coordination.
Some might argue that the AM is not leading enough now (i.e. not initiating campaigns). But I would say the current failure of the AM is not keeping up with the local initiatives and producing better repositories of information for everyone to access and share (principally through the agitation web page). So that is where I see the AM going in the next year.
Contact MIM by writing mim@mim.org