tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3960823575559189442.post2289922182028544287..comments2023-10-23T19:50:05.472+01:00Comments on Labour Roots Project: General Discussion 002Tim Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15237522140184882034noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3960823575559189442.post-77131347500584303132016-06-18T16:45:55.815+01:002016-06-18T16:45:55.815+01:00OK I seem to have gone off on a tangent here but k... OK I seem to have gone off on a tangent here but key points:<br /><br />We just need to complete this initial scoping & high-level design project, resulting in an outline plan that can start small & show fast results, attracting new developers and participants, and allow a continual monotonic improvement path toward a really powerful tool that can't be ignored. This is not a pipe dream; we are on the verge of it already and there is nothing preventing us from achieving it. Even the first step, which is actually not far off, of coming up with a clear plan will equip us to start recruiting more people. I know two people sympathetic to Momentum with considerable IT experience, once of whom is a Labour member & Corbyn voter who works for a really big consultancy and actually approached a number of people, including notably Angela Eagle in a chip shop at conference trying to find out how to offer hisservices to the Labour party - to no effect. <br /><br />And I think the reason for that is just that these people don't have the time, the structures, the knowledge or the luxury of 'blue skies thinking' that would be required for them to know what to do with him. He was, to them, like the work experience kid who creates more work for everyone else by needing to be kept busy.<br /><br />As we make progress, we also demonstrate by our actions competence and the ability to get things done, which makes us a far more attarctive proposition than just another bunch of grumblers on a web forum.<br /><br />(Sorry, a bit rambling & possibly odd in tone - no time to tidy up.)Tim Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15237522140184882034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3960823575559189442.post-38700545921371143982016-06-18T16:45:45.071+01:002016-06-18T16:45:45.071+01:00The way I see it, We have no standing or influence...The way I see it, We have no standing or influence to speak of in Momentum or Labour (and we are really looking at the former for the moment since as mentioned we can't trust or reason with the Hostiles in the Labour party) so we have to <br /><br />(1) attract members to our platform and get them connected across the Momentum organisation instead of in local cells. This I think has to be a case if 'if you build it they will come' - if we can offer a usable resource which enables better communicatiosn, coordination, policy formation, etc - qand a vision & direction of travel that makes it appear that the future is ours, we can recruit staff and partcipants (and the architecture proposal I'm taking a minute or two out of working on elides that distinction - participants will be doing work even if they don't realise it).<br /><br />(2) Achieve a critical mass of Momentum users, and start to produce materials that clearly benefit the party/leader's office, and promise to provide greater benefits. If we get this kind of buy-in, then the implicit reframing of membership as participative goes through by default. <br /><br />I'm sure JC & probably Lansman are in theory amenable to this kind of 'empowerment' of members. But I think there is - in Momentum at least, perhaps, a certain inertia: most of the a network (Or rather hierarchy) of organisers, while we owe them a debt of gratitude for their faithful dedication in keeping the flame alive over the past 20 years or so, are probably in many cases not up to date with the full possibilities offered by IT. It may not be a great exaggeration to say that during the long period of Left retrenchment they have become accustomed to operating almost uin undreground cells, marshalling a skeleton staff with almost ritualised performances of leaflet folding, meetings, raffles etc. In any case, I think momentum is not necessarily well equipped to push forward a large movement in innovative ways. <br /><br />In addition, JC's staff have their hands full at eth moment and - pretty understandably - don't want to embark on any grand experiments with new working methods and various attendant risks. <br /><br /><br />WE're in a position to try and do a lot of that experimentation in parallel to activities going on in Momentum & the Leader's office - if we provide proof of concept and show that it is capable of producing sensible and useful output and outcomes based (almost) entirely on volunteer labour, the what's not to like? Add the implied mandate that policy recommendations would gain if a sufficient number of members participate in them, and the fact that this might even provide leverage for JC et al to break the stranglehold of the Progress types on various aspects of the party machine, and I think there's every reason to suppose that our initiative will be welcomed rather than resisted. <br /><br />Obviously a part of this is to avoid so far as feasible any hostility, toe treading etc. If we can lead by example and demonstrate, rather than agitate for, our case, we avoid hardening attitudes and provoking resistance. We (Momentum/Labour Left/Corbyn's office) are after all on the same side. Any organisation has its little frictions and irritations, but here we really do have unity of purpose and dedication to shared ideals. If we go about this the right way, then I think that fact can eventually win the day.<br /><br />It's very easy to overdo the cynicism and forget that actually the default in most situations is for facts to win out over untruths, for good ideas to be adopted because they are good ideas, for people with a common enemy to work together, etc. Examples abound where this doesn't happen, of course, whether due to cock-up or conspiracy or something else. But still, those are the pathological cases, parasitic on the normal course of things - which is why they are what merits and attracts our attention.Tim Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15237522140184882034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3960823575559189442.post-60259645464306558722016-06-18T15:03:20.835+01:002016-06-18T15:03:20.835+01:00Good points. I don't really know how we go abo...Good points. I don't really know how we go about changing people's conceptions of membership. The reason I've focused so much on the tech side of things is because that's what I <i>do</i> know how to proceed on.<br /><br />I have a friend who is a Labour member and supporter of Corbyn. I think in many ways she is representative of the Corbynite membership, so it might be interesting to see what her thoughts are on these sorts of issues. I know she'd commented that she was turned off of the university Labour club due to the hostile atmosphere between pro- and anti-Corbyn elements, with both sides having degenerated into name-calling (on the Facebook page at least). We will need to make sure anything we do as a more welcoming atmosphere, at least.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10829113438211196212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3960823575559189442.post-37276681751504390822016-06-18T13:10:11.652+01:002016-06-18T13:10:11.652+01:00My take on the founding blog comments we made on L...My take on the <a href="http://www.leftfutures.org/2016/06/how-a-party-faction-is-preventing-party-members-voting-for-me-for-labours-nec/comment-page-1/#comment-244617" rel="nofollow">founding blog comments</a> we made on Left Futures.<br /><br />Labour Roots main purpose - Encourage, invite, enable more meaningful involvement by the grass roots. In particular, the 200,000 new members, many of whom bring valuable, much-needed skills and understanding.<br /><br />'Involvement' could include - being part of new democratic processes, actually discussing such things as policy, aggregating grass roots' knowledge and understanding (e.g. in policy papers), devising Party political education initiatives (on policy, strategy, tactics or how the NEC operates).<br /><br />Primary barrier to Labour Roots - a deeply rooted conception of membership, entirely based on activism, which sees no place for our initiative. This barrier exists across left and right, is especially prevalent in Momentum (from Jon Lansman downwards). It is simply immovable in CLPD. We could invent industry-leading 'involvement' software, which then produced high quality policy, strategy and tactics output, but without culture-change our work would simply be ignored.<br /><br />Initial purpose – to devise, write, picture the ‘Labour Roots’ initiative so that we attract more contributors. This might include concrete examples of ‘involvement’, an account of the primary barrier and a call for particular skills (a kind ‘job’ advert). It could take the form of a coherent Labour Roots 'package', including website (somewhere for members to both see details and sign-up), flyers etc.John Walshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962574235469005557noreply@blogger.com