The problem with a strategy built around rallies needs to be addressed in more detail. In short rallies are trapped within the framework of ‘capitalo-parliamentarianism’(Badiou 2003). Rallies are attempts to mobilise as many people as possible to influence the behaviour of the state by suggesting that those in the street represent a significant enough voting bloc that politicians should change their behaviour. Tied into this is often the hope that a rally will be of significant size that it will get significant media exposure; a recognition but a misunderstanding of the ‘spectacular’ nature of our current society (Debord 2002, 2004). The historical lesson of the anti-war movement is that ultimately such an approach is a failure (a lesson that almost all movements since have been like painful remedial classes on). In our conjuncture the state just doesn’t care, and doesn’t have to care, how many people are involved in rallies. They can be safely ignored. And if the rally does make it onto the media we quickly find that rather than shaping the public debate the media shapes the images and presentation of the rally and slides it into the series of representations that work to reinforce the dominant ideological normality. There is always the chance that a rally, or elements of a rally, will break out of formula and act in a different way: an example could be the conflicts with the police carried out by high-school kids during the anti-war movement. Such developments are normally experienced as a rupture with and a crisis in the rally. Most often the organisers of the rally itself work to contain, defuse and police such moments. The mandatory mantra of a rally being ‘peaceful’ or ‘non-violent’ is used as the ideological cover to discipline almost any rebellious behaviour that comes autonomously from the participants of the rally itself (and also shuts down the space for the very complex, nuanced and needed discussion about the role force may or may not place in the struggle for social emancipation.)
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:28:37 +0000