or ‘Me gustan los estudiantes’: Mario Handler at St Andrews
The Uruguayan documentarist Mario Handler came to St Andrews recently for a symposium revisiting New Latin American Cinema of the 60s through the Uruguayan case. The event was able organised by Beatriz Tadeo Fuica, included a prety cogent overview of Documentary and Activism by Leshu Torshin, and a Q&A with Mario Handler by Gustavo San Román. This was my own contribution. Read more
Being written for presentation at ‘Marx at the Movies’, these notes address the topic from an angle which is rarely treated in film and video scholarship, that of the peculiar labour process and mode of production involved. Read more
Events since the near-death experience of finance capital in 2008 have succoured renewed attention not to Marxism as a political creed but to Marx as the urtext of the proper analysis of the capitalist system. On the one hand, old established Marxist scholars like Fredric Jameson, Terry Eagleton and David Harvey have all published new books, while on the other, numerous articles alluding to Marx’s relevance have appeared in both the capitalist press and independent weeklies, sometimes even on the radio (though never television). On the web, you can find a growing number of videos about capitalism, its discontents and dysfunctions, strongly informed by Marxist ideas, jostling for attention with an explosion of more anarchistic street level video activism. Read more
Two activists from Occupy LSX, Martin Eiermann and Jamie Kelsey-Fry, talk about the eviction the morning after.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/37617578[/vimeo]
Posted: February 6, 2012 
Submitted for publication by working class self organisation at libcom.org on Feb 5 2012 19:20
Health workers in Kilkis, Greece, have occupied their local hospital and have issued a statement saying it is now fully under workers control.
The general hospital of Kilkis in Greece is now under workers control. The workers at the hospital have declared that the long-lasting problems of the National Health System (ESY) cannot be resolved.
The workers have responded to the regime’s acceleration of fascism by occupying the hospital and outing it under direct and complete control by the workers. All decisions will be made by a ‘workers general assembly’.
The hospital has stated that. “The government is not acquitted of its financial responsibilities, and if their demands are not met, they will turn to the local and wider community for support in every possible way to save the hospital defend free public healthcare, to overthrow the government and every neo-liberal policy.”
From the 6th February, hospital workers will only deal with emergencies until their wages, and monies owed have been paid. They are also demanding a return to wage levels prior to the implementation of austerity measures.
The next general assembly will take place on the 13th, and a related press conference will be given on the 15th.
The following statement has been issued by the workers:
1. We recognize that the current and enduring problems of Ε.Σ.Υ (the national health system) and related organizations cannot be solved with specific and isolated demands or demands serving our special interests, since these problems are a product of a more general anti-popular governmental policy and of the bold global neoliberalism.
2. We recognize, as well, that by insisting in the promotion of that kind of demands we essentially participate in the game of the ruthless authority. That authority which, in order to face its enemy – i.e. the people- weakened and fragmented, wishes to prevent the creation of a universal labour and popular front on a national and global level with common interests and demands against the social impoverishment that the authority’s policies bring.
3. For this reason, we place our special interests inside a general framework of political and economic demands that are posed by a huge portion of the Greek people that today is under the most brutal capitalist attack; demands that in order to be fruitful must be promoted until the end in cooperation with the middle and lower classes of our society.
4. The only way to achieve this is to question, in action, not only its political legitimacy, but also the legality of the arbitrary authoritarian and anti-popular power and hierarchy which is moving towards totalitarianism with accelerating pace.
5. The workers at the General Hospital of Kilkis answer to this totalitarianism with democracy. We occupy the public hospital and put it under our direct and absolute control. The Γ.N. of Kilkis will henceforth be self-governed and the only legitimate means of administrative decision making will be the General Assembly of its workers.
6. The government is not released of its economic obligations of staffing and supplying the hospital, but if they continue to ignore these obligations, we will be forced to inform the public of this and ask the local government but most importantly the society to support us in any way possible for: (a) the survival of our hospital (b) the overall support of the right for public and free healthcare (c) the overthrow, through a common popular struggle, of the current government and any other neoliberal policy, no matter where it comes from (d) a deep and substantial democratization, that is, one that will have society, rather than a third party, responsible for making decisions for its own future.
7. The labour union of the Γ.N. of Kilkis will begin, from 6 February, the retention of work, serving only emergency incidents in our hospital until the complete payment for the hours worked, and the rise of our income to the levels it was before the arrival of the troika (EU-ECB-IMF). Meanwhile, knowing fully well what our social mission and moral obligations are, we will protect the health of the citizens that come to the hospital by providing free healthcare to those in need, accommodating and calling the government to finally accept its responsibilities, overcoming even in the last minute its immoderate social ruthlessness.
8. We decide that a new general assembly will take place, on Monday 13 February in the assembly hall of the new building of the hospital at 11 am, in order to decide the procedures that are needed to efficiently implement the occupation of the administrative services and to successfully realise the self-governance of the hospital, which will start from that day. The general assemblies will take place daily and will be the paramount instrument for decision making regarding the employees and the operation of the hospital.
We ask for the solidarity of the people and workers from all fields, the collaboration of all workers’ unions and progressive organizations, as well as the support from any media organization that chooses to tell the truth. We are determined to continue until the traitors that sell out our country and our people leave. It’s either them or us!
The above decisions will be made public through a news conference to which all the Mass Media (local and national) will be invited on Wednesday 15/2/2012 at 12.30. Our daily assemblies begin on 13 February. We will inform the citizens about every important event taking place in our hospital by means of news releases and conferences. Furthermore, we will use any means available to publicise these events in order to make this mobilization successful.
We call
a) Our fellow citizens to show solidarity to our effort,
b) Every unfairly treated citizen of our country in contestation and opposition, with actions, against his’/her’s oppressors,
c) Our fellow workers from other hospitals to make similar decisions,
d) the employees in other fields of the public and private sector and the participants in labour and progressive organizations to act likewise, in order to help our mobilization take the form of a universal labour and popular resistance and uprising, until our final victory against the economic and political elite that today oppresses our country and the whole world.
confidential occupations document – april 2009
The following leaked document had disappeared from the public domain due to the website which it was previously hosted on going down. It is a briefing for heads of university administrations on dealing with student occupations. It may assist activists in gaining some idea of the perspective of senior university officials on occupations – although some of the material is more specifically about occupations around Palestinian issue.
Sign at the occupied Middlesex Philosophy Department, 2010
Original introductory note by an ‘Education Not for Sale’ activist
What follows is a briefing published by university administrators concerning student occupations . It outlines some of the tactics used by university authorities to deal with student protest, specifically occupations. It is not clear exactly who wrote the briefing, or who received it, but since it is addressed to members of the Association for Heads of University Administration (AHUA), we can reasonably assume that it has been received by a number of vice chancellors and others in positions of authority around the country.
It was decided to publish this document at and Education Not For Sale open steering meeting on September 20th. There were no objections from the activists present.
A few activists have a hard copy of the document, and I have typed up exactly what is written on the actual document in our possession. What follows is my typed copy.
CONFIDENTIAL
Student Occupations: a briefing note for members of AHUA, April 2009
Background
Following the Israeli attack on Gaza, which commenced in December 2008, there has been a spate of student occupations throughout the UK and indeed other countries. About 30 UK HEIs experienced occupations during the first three months of 2009. This wave of student protest has a number of important characteristics and this briefing note has been prepared to inform members of AHUA.
Form of Protest
The occupations have been undertaken by a relatively small core of students expressing concern about the situation in Gaza, usually under the title ‘Gaza (or Palestine) Solidarity Campaign’ or similar. Although the form of the protests has varied, there are a number of general characteristics. Normally the occupation takes place in a lecture theatre or similar open area rather than in the administration building or library. The students have called on individual universities to take action in support of the people of Gaza (scholarships for Palestinian students, educational materials to be sent to Gaza). Sometimes there has been a link to the issue of investments by UK universities that manufacture military products and a call to support an ethical investment policy.
The students bring with them mobile phones and laptops. The link to the internet and the ability to publicise via blogs or Facebook is probably the single most important development compared to previous student direct action. The publicity generated and the mutual support offered via the web has been critical in spreading the protest around the country. For this reason, the actions taken by individual institutions in response to the occupations have consequences for others, with protestors using alleged examples of where their demands have been met to encourage action elsewhere.
Most of the actions does not appear to have been organised via any official students’ union route. Indeed, the National Union of Students in mid February called for the wave of protests to end because the level of disruption had reached unacceptable levels.
Political activists, who may or may not be current students, have played a part in organising the occupations. The Socialist Worker Party and other ‘hard left’ publications or posters have been displayed prominently. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to dismiss the spate of occupations as merely the work of activists. The students involved seem, in the main, to express genuine concern about the issues raised, even if the mode of expressing concern is disruptive.
There is a great deal of material now available on the web, for example:
http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php?option=com_newsfeeds&catid=84&itemid=230
http://communiststudents.org.uk/tag/student-occupation/
The lengths of the occupations have varied, depending on part whether the occupiers believe some or all of their demands have been met. In most cases the occupations have been peaceful, and relatively small scale. However, in a small number of cases they have caused severe problems.
Legal position on trespass
Our legal sponsors, Martineau, have prepared a note on the legal issues on trident occupations which is attached.
The legal position on trespass is complex and the following brief summary should not be regarded as a substitute for professional legal opinion. Further, the law on trespass in Scotland differs significantly from elsewhere in the UK.
In English law, trespass is a civil tort and is not normally an offence under criminal law. Students normally can enter lecture theatres or similar spaces and the university has to inform the protestors that it regards the occupation as a trespass. It is possible to seek a High Court injunction and claim for possession but the process is expensive and could reasonably be expected to take a couple of days. Under common law, a landowner (and for the avoidance of doubt, buildings are land) can physically evict a trespasser who refuses to leave provided that no more force than is reasonably required is used. In at least one case this was the action taken by an HEI to end the occupation. It is would be [sic] sensible to adopt this action only with the support of the local police who could be invited to witness the eviction. There are occasions when trespass might become aggravated trespass and the police could remove the protestors. This could occur in the event of criminal damage or if there is a threat of violence.
Difficult Issues
Regardless of the cause of the protest, HEIs will wish to minimise the disruption. Dealing with the occupation is likely to be time consuming and put particular strain on the campus security team.
Any issue relating to the Middle East is likely to raise the concerns of Jewish students and there has been a reported rise in hate crimes against the Jewish community over the past few months. The protestors have tried to make clear that they are not raising religious or race issues but the relationships are complex and not easily separated. Representatives of the Jewish community have urged individual universities not to concede to some of the demands made by protestors. Other students too have expressed frustration at the disruption caused by a very small minority, especially when there are suspicions that non-students are involved. The Universities UK media release on the situation in Gaza is a useful starting point for any university that would wish to make a public statement. It is available at:
http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/newsroom/media-releases/pages/gazastatement.aspx
However, even this has raised concerns from members of the Jewish community, specifically on the grounds of accuracy relating to the deaths in educational establishments.
Options for dealing with an occupation
Consideration should be given to the potential role of the students’ union in resolving the dispute. In some cases the officers have been rather distant, aware of their obligation to represent the broad community of students, but in others the officers have been involved as helpful intermediaries.
One important issue to consider is the access to the area being occupied. In some cases, the students concerned made clear that they would be willing to allow lectures to continue in the same room. They probably regard this as a way of minimising the threat of legal or disciplinary action. Consideration needs to be given early on to the policy the HEI will adopt on access to the area. If it allows free access, there is a risk that the occupation will lengthen, more people could join and it allows the protestors to rotate. The alternative is an attempt to control access. This raises allegations of heavy handedness by the institution. A particular issue is whether or not to allow further supplies of food into the building. Again, refusal to do so runs the risk of publicity being generated about the institution attempting to ‘starve’ the students out. It is important for the HEI to emphasise the priority of health and safety issues. Obviously, access to toilet facilities and an attempt to maintain reasonable conditions should be a priority both for the protestors and for the HEI.
The last few weeks have seen a new spate of agitational web videos, accompanying the amazing upturn of politicking in Britain in response to the brutal, ill-considered and philistine cuts proposed by the coalition government which took office last May. Read more
University Struggles at the End of the Edu-Deal
By George Caffentzis
As students around the world start to take action against national governments’ university spending cuts, George Caffentzis sees a plane of struggle developing; one which acts against the crooked deal of high cost education exchanged for life-long precarity.
We should not ask for the university to be destroyed, nor for it to be preserved. We should not ask for anything. We should ask ourselves and each other to take control of these universities, collectively, so that education can begin.
– From a flyer found in the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts originally written in the University of California
Read more at metamute
A small selection of links:
If the State is trying to teach the kids a lesson, what they learn may be something else
Thatcher’s children can lead the class of 68 back into action | Polly Toynbee
Video: Student protests in London: A street-level view of the day
Campaign for the Public University
The shame of the Lib Dems—and the end of the commons
