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) Ka taea e koe te tautuhi he aha to whakaaro ko nga ahuatanga matua me nga whakahaerenga o te hapori me whakarereke, ara, ohaoha, torangapu, tikanga, ira tangata/ira tangata, rauropi, aha atu?

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 he pepa 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) He aha o whainga mo tenei huringa, kei te whai koe ki te whakarereke, mena he aha nga huringa, whanui? Kei te whai koe ki te whakakapi i enei umanga ki etahi atu? Mena he aha te ahua o nga hanganga whakakapi, he aha o raatau ahuatanga, he poto noa iho?

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) Ki to whakaaro ko wai nga kaitaunaki rautaki ki te whakatutuki i enei whainga, ara, nga roopu torangapu, nga kaimahi, nga wahine, nga kuini, nga manene, etahi whenua, rohe ranei, aha atu?

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

(4) He aha nga tikanga e kite ana koe e whakamahia nuitia ana ki te whakatutuki i enei huringa ara ko te pooti, ​​ko te mahi tika, ko nga mahi a te hunga pāpāho, ko nga patu, ko nga whakaaturanga, aha atu?

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) He pehea te uru o etahi atu tirohanga, he rereke nga whakaaro mo te huringa hapori, ki roto i to rautaki me to tirohanga?

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.