Conclusions
from the Strategical Debate




Looking at the transition from
the Welfare State to a Controlled State:


Political activists in europe and world
wide, independent from actual actions, have been victims of different
forms of repression. It sometimes seems that a strategic balance is
lacking in our reactions to this repression, although all actions are
important. For example, a lot of resources – time and effort –
can get spent on demonstrating following an activist being arrested;
although this is equally as important as solidarity with detained
refugees or other actions. We sometimes need to think about how to
balance the energies.




What is repression?


Repression is an integral part of the
apparatus of social control which can touch everyone, not just
political activists. The process of repressing aims at creating
division within society in order to distract from tensions between
the powers-that-be and people created by systems of exploitation and
domination. There is a process of stigmatisation, marginalisation
and criminalisation of particular individuals and groups
(encompassing political activism, gender, race, nationality and many
other issues). This is used to justify repression and social
mechanisms of control to the wider society; there are many examples

within society of issues that have been used in this way:



Fascism/Nazis and paedophilia -
biometrics and information technology control and surveillance
Street crime and assaults –
CCTV surveillance
Football hooliganism, September
11th and 'terrorism' – restrictions on movement,
sharing between countries of 'intelligence' information, crowd
control technologies, civil liberty infringements.



Once these mechanisms of control are
established, they can then be used against others in other
situations.


Repression itself can take place at two
levels: the first by having institutions which manage 'the problem' –
be it prisons or (mental health) hospitals or social security and
benefit systems, depending upon what 'the problem' is; the second
level is that by removing the power from the people to deal with
problems there is a need for further repressive measures to be taken
for new problems. Furthermore,
these mechanisms are presented as an integral part of a 'welfare
state,' by representing repressive institutions and processes with a
human face, that help, correct and educate. In parallel, increasing
resources from the 'welfare state' are invested in repression (jails,
police, security) and the other mechanisms of the state are slowly
integrated into the strategy of control (benefits becoming
conditional, education).



Within a more general context of
privatisation, institutions of repression are also being privatised.
They are then used not just for social control but also to extract
profit. This helps create other incentives for maintaining and
reinforcing the system of control.





Practical examples of European
activism and the reaction to repression:


Political
activists fighting repression in different countries have created
legal support groups working within the activist community and also
in the wider communities – for example, Legal & Defence
Monitoring Group in the UK, (il)-legal team at the Strasbourg
No Border camp, the Laeken legal team in 2001.


Prison solidarity – within and
outside prisons – and prisoner support. For example, actions
in solidarity with arrested activists following demonstrations, the
provision of books and letter-writing campaigns.


Free-zones: the provision of autonomous
spaces in a temporary or permanent capacity – these have
included street parties, social centres, art exhibitions, discussion
and anti-oppression groups, and newsletters providing information.
All of these help to create a space which is free(er) from repression
than is otherwise possible within the current state.




Proposals for future work:


All forms of
repression should be opposed as they represent a system of control
and we reject entirely the idea that some forms of repression in some
circumstances are justified.


Proactive
campaigning strategy against social control as a whole throughout
the network.
Links with
other groups working on repression as well as raising awareness
outside the activist community.
Better
international networking and sharing of information and resources,
for example between lawyers and legal teams in different countries,
thereby avoiding the need to duplicate work.
Tools to
enable different groups and individuals to share information –
for example, a resource database or free-zones and info-shops.
The next PGA
conference should discuss repression within the wider context of
social control.



Some of these
projects have already commenced, others are new ideas from the
conference.