IPPS Strategy & Vision Q&A

Members of The International Project for a Participatory Society (IPPS) were asked to respond to a short list of questions relating to a future participatory society and how to get there. Although broadly formulated, the questions are aimed at extrapolating IPPS member thoughts and experiences on matters of strategy and vision. Here is Patrick Bond's responce:

(1) Could you please identify what you think are the core defining features and institutions of society that need to be changed i.e. economic, political, cultural, gender/sexual, ecological, etc.?

I tend to work on intermediate-level 'non-reformist reform' strategies against capitalism as a first priority, accompanied by Marxist political economic critique. I think the best I might offer to reflect on this is takarda I presented yesterday which draws out the way Africa's underdevelopment might be analysed from this standpoint, and some implications for the global justice movement.

(2) What are your goals for this change, do you seek to reform them, if so with what changes, broadly? Do you seek to fundamentally replace these institutions with some others? If so what do the replacement structures look like, what are their defining features, of course in brief?

I don't have confidence in the contemporary world balance of forces changing, so while the core problems are generated at the global scale, we probably best direct our energies - at least in the next couple of decades - towards takeover and transformation of *national* governments.
Each case of revolution will be different and it is invidious to promote blueprints (though the parecon model is very attractive to be sure). The most important basis for designing post-capitalist/racist/patriarchal/anthropomorphic strategies and replacement institutions, is the existing campaigning of mass democratic movements. Shortcuts can do more harm than good.

(3) Who do you think the strategic actors are in achieving these goals i.e. political parties, workers, women, queers, immigrants, particular countries or regions, etc?

I have listed the 'global justice movement' components in the attached.

(4) What tactics do you see being centrally used in achieving these changes i.e. voting, direct action, media action, strikes, demonstrations, etc.?

Tactics are so diverse that it is probably best to first outline strategies. The two core strategic arguments I tend to prioritise are 'decommodification' and 'deglobalisation of capital' (via globalisation of people). See attached for more.

(5) How do other perspectives, which have different ideas about societal change, fit into your strategy and vision?

I list four other politico-ideological perspectives in the attached (pp.34-35), and give a sense of where occasional alliances can be made by global justice movements with the 'Third World nationalist' and 'Post-Washington Consensus' perspectives.