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Each month we bring you a nonviolence training workshop
based on the experience of the Nonviolent Action Training
project and INNATE.
Notes for organisers and
participants of public, political events
[Click
here to view print version]
By discipline is meant here individual self
discipline, or collective self discipline where people agree
to abide by requests from a steward or organiser of an event.
By ‘demo’ we are referring to a wide variety of
public events with a political message, ranging in number
from a couple of people to many thousands.
Events can happen ‘naturally’ in
the best possible way; participants, many or few, are well
tempered, participative and looking out for each other and
communicating well with the public. But events can also happen
which look poorly organised, even shoddy, do not communicate
well, and are maybe the wrong thing to have done in the first
place. This short paper is an exploration of trying to get
it right.
What is the specific aim of the event?
What is the aim or what are the aims? Even those involved
may not know or be clear. Is it to impact on people involved
in an unjust/violent and unsustainable activity? Is it to
point to a different way of doing something? Is it to urge
one choice over another by the government or another body?
Or solidarity with another group or associated group (workers,
activists, residents, local community, immigrants etc)? Being
clear about the aim(s) is helpful because from that a variety
of other things may flow. If it is to win over members of
the public, what will do this? And what will antagonise them?
If it is to influence the public through media coverage, how
can positive media coverage be engendered (not always an easy
one to work out). If it is a controversial topic, how can
it be ensured that members of the public are won over rather
than further antagonised?
The aim or aims of the proposed event should
be considered when planning starts. Are the aims likely to
be achieved by organising a particular event? Sometimes ‘a
march’ or ‘a rally’ is assumed to be the
most effective way of demonstrating a choice and communicating
with the public. If there is sufficient support for a cause
then this may well be true. If there is insufficient support
and the event is small it can actually do the cause harm;
support may look so pathetically small that it seems no one
is interested, and this is what is communicated to the public
at large.
What is necessary at a particular point may
be blindingly obvious to everyone – but it still needs
checking that ‘everyone’ is agreed. Exploring
aims can be done using a flipchart at the start of an organising
process, taking time to discuss them (if need be in pairs
or small groups) and arriving at sufficient consensus to proceed.
Size
Referred to in the previous section, the expected number of
people is a key element in planning. A perfectly valid and
useful event can be organised with just a couple of people
– running a stall, leafleting, doing street theatre,
or whatever. You do not need many people to be effective in
putting your viewpoint across – but you do, as mentioned
above, need to choose an appropriate action for the expected
number of participants.
It may not always be true that the bigger the
event then the more work needs to go into organising it, but
there is some truth in this. Being responsible for a large
number of people – any number of people – requires
planning and consideration of what can go wrong and making
sure that the event is well organised, including with stewards
if appropriate. Any event needs consideration of how people
will gather together and disburse, and how long that may take.
Do people make their own way? Or do some come on transport
you provide? Longer events (which are not considered here)
or very large ones may require special provision of facilities
such as toilets or accommodation.
Fear, anger
It is natural to be emotional on emotive issues such as war,
global poverty, denial of civil liberties, local campaigning
issues, and so on. But public demonstrations are opportunities
for showing controlled emotions – if this is handled
well it can be effective in communicating with the public
that these people are well organised and feel justified anger
(or fear of something happening). Allowing unbridled anger
in a public demonstration is a recipe for disaster, either
in things getting out of hand (not necessarily with violence)
or in communicating the wrong message to the public (‘these
people are angry nihilists who are out of control’).
The risk of unproductive anger being shown publicly
depends on the kind of event planned and the kind of issue
involved, as well as how open it is to others coming in. In
many cases it may not be an issue. In others it may require
work beforehand with those participating to have shared and
expressed their anger before the event, and looking at how
the event can be best managed. This is likely to require stewarding
(marshalling) to ensure things go smoothly. Depending on how
open an event is, the difficulty may be with groups who believe
in the use of violence, or of people opportunistically jumping
in to a tense situation. There may not be an easy solution
here. An agreed code of conduct backed up by stewards may
be one way to ensure an event goes as planned.
Participants also need awareness of how to interact
with members of the public, some of whom may be antagonistic
to the aims of the event. Calmness and a lack of animosity
are key to communicating; and if an antagonistic member of
the public chooses to try to engage angrily with participants,
the best response may be a short, polite answer and then disengagement.
There is the risk of escalation in such a situation, again
not necessarily to violence, but certainly in reinforcing
previously existing views by someone who is antagonistic,
rather than challenging them.
Fear is not as big a possible problem in public
demonstrations as anger but it can be a problem, particularly
in causing non-participation. People may feel afraid in participating
in a particular event either because of perceived risks attached
(possibility of violence, vilification or even victimisation
– one INNATE monitor working in the town they were originally
from in Northern Ireland was directly and personally threatened,
and that was a ‘third party’ intervention). Again
depending on the situation it is something which may have
to be worked on with potential participants, and a subject
to be addressed in planning an event which aims for maximum
participation. A key point here, once people have got beyond
the paralysis of fear, is that fear is a friend and not an
enemy; it alerts you to dangers which need taken into account.
The tone of the event
Is it a serious event? A serious event with comic or satirical
parts? Or is it a carnival type event which is aiming to show
a positive alternative? Or a mixture of these? The intended
tone should be a determinant in what is planned as part of
the event. Street theatre can be serious but may work better
if it is satirical – is it the kind of thing which will
add to the event and inform the public? Or, if it is to be
a ‘sad’ event, e.g. a silent vigil, do all participants
know what is intended and how long the silence will go on?
‘Silent’ vigils where people chat away are not
satisfactory either for participants or how they communicate
to the public. Even during a silent vigil there should be
people who, quietly, inform the public or media what is happening
though talking to them and provision of leaflets or press
releases.
General preparation
There are many questions which may need addressed in relation
to a public political event. Ones not given their own heading
here including production of banners, posters, and leaflets,
setting up a rostrum and PA (public address) system for speakers
(if needed – and being sure the volume level of the
PA system will be sufficient), notification to police, and
the possibility of public liability insurance. If banners
and posters are hand made (rather than printed) they can be
produced in a collective session some days or weeks before
the event, allowing variations on the collective theme to
be used.
Depending on the action being planned, using
role play and drama to explore the action can be vital in
having people prepared and confident. This can include exploring
interaction with other demonstrators (e.g. over differences
of how to respond to a situation arising), with police, and
with antagonistic members of the public.
Legal preparation
‘Legal support’ of an appropriate kind is wise
at any public manifestation. The minimum required is someone
not heavily involved in the action to be free to arrange support
if people are arrested, and the availability of appropriate
phone numbers of lawyers. Organisers also need an awareness
of what is required concerning any notice to the police and,
if not fulfilling any legal obligation, an active decision
to desist from so doing (and explanation to potential participants
of why). Relating to police, or other authorities, should
be a designated task, i.e. given to trusted participants in
advance.
Any activity which might be illegal or considered
illegal and lead to arrests needs a higher level of legal
support such as having non-involved legal monitors who will
record the sequence of events and act in support of participants,
plus lawyers on stand by. Participants in an illegal activity
should also have considered the law(s) which they may be breaking
or be considered to be breaking, and reasons why they consider
the action necessary. Damage to, e.g. military, property needs
further preparation. Legal cases can drag on for an inordinate
length of time and ‘tie up’ campaigning energies,
apart altogether from any bail or probation conditions; this
is not a reason to refuse to take action but a key concept
in nonviolence is, where possible, both accepting responsibility
for one’s actions and knowing what is being undertaken.
Geographically this ‘accepting responsibility’
may only be possible in relative democracies and even in these
certain activities of low level illegality may be undertaken
without proclaiming who has actually taken the action. Examples
of the latter could be graffiti or fly-posting (of posters)
but even here consideration should be made of where this is
done – hoardings and derelict or unused properties are
fine but private houses, or offices unless they are deliberately
being targeted, will lead to unnecessary antagonism. In more
repressive societies, nonviolent action demonstrations are
still possible but participants may not hang around to take
responsibility – e.g. ‘lightning’ demonstrations
or leafleting where people come together, do a quick action,
and melt away again (this form of action is obviously possible
in more liberal societies too).
Stewarding
Stewarding (‘marshalling’ in US English, both
terms are used in European English though ‘stewarding’
is more common) is a key factor in ensuring a well-ordered
and peaceful event in large demonstrations. Stewards should
have separate training both in doing the job (kinds of intervention
permissible, trigger points to avoid in antagonising participants
or public and avoiding escalation etc, knowledge of the sequence
of events taking place, directions if it is a march etc).
In the case of a march, stewards (as well as
organisers’ announcements) are key to getting people
organised in the appropriate formation. For example, walking
five abreast is going to make a march or parade look better
and longer than walking a dozen or more abreast (unless the
march is so big and impressive that it doesn’t matter).
They should also be responsible for any liaison with police,
and for explaining to people anything unexpected. Stewarding
can be done by anyone, from young adults to older people,
but should include trusted and experienced members of any
organisations involved in a large event.
Media
Relating to the media should be a designated task and can
be shared by people who are experienced and less experienced
but wanting to learn. As well as any prior press release(s),
if necessary with an embargo on news of a planned action where
prior media attention is not desired, the media should be
contacted relatively early on the morning of an event to check
that press releases have been noted and to ask if they will
be covering the event. E-mail and fax lists for press releases
need updated and checked periodically remembering to include
local and independent media. Writing press releases requires
a certain amount of skill at both getting across essential
information and making it exciting, newsworthy and relevant.
Spokespeople should be appointed to relate to
the media during the event, and for any necessary interviews
before or after. And if the media fail to show up, further
press releases (and offer of photos) can be sent to the media
and to Indymedia (an important location for events coverage)
- just because no one from the media turns up should not mean
‘no coverage’.
Communicating to the public
Communicating with the public requires consideration. What
kind of themes will best get the message across? Should there
be ‘specialists’ at an event whose job it is to
communicate to the public (i.e. apart from any spokespeople
to relate to the media) through handing out leaflets and talking
to people? If you have the numbers then this may be a good
idea – sometimes passers by may have no clue as to what
is happening or why. At a rally-type event or public meeting
outside it is wise to arrange that some banners and placards
face outwards to the passing public as well as others facing
the front. On smaller demonstrations it is even more important
to ensure banners and placards are held so that the public
can see them and know what is happening.
Using this material
Organisers may want to copy this paper and read it before
considering the event in question. When working with a group,
the various subject areas above can be listed on a chart,
and those needing most work have time spent in information
and exploration. It is wise to break any preparation meetings
down into pairs and/or small groups to allow people to express
fears, anxieties and concerns which they might feel reluctant
to express in a larger group; such issues should be listed
in writing on a board or chart so they are dealt with and
not ignored. Building public support for our causes is key;
public events are a wonderful opportunity to influence the
public and strengthen the resolve of those already committed.
But leaving an event to chance in its organisation is something
which can easily be exploited by the powers that be, including
antagonistic or sensationalist media.
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