Welcome to our first NVDA toolbox!
During the 'second gulf war' the streets of Manchester were alive with thousands
of protesters - they were a powerful and impressive sight - controlling the
streets for days on end, running rings around the police and occupying whatever
space they wanted, anytime of night or day.
But we also witnessed people getting hurt because they were ill prepared for the States' reaction; we saw many arrests due to a lack of knowledge of police tactics. Towards the end we saw numbers dwindle through the numbing effect of centrally/hierarchically planned marches and meetings.
Once again people mentioned the need for adequate advance training for such
situations.
Our response was this NVDA (non-violent direct action) TOOLBOX.
What is it?
This CD is intended for people taking action. It aims to make it easier for
new folks to understand what the hell everyone is going on about in meetings,
how groups organise themselves without leaders etc. It explains some of the
tactics that have successfully been employed over the years - as well as some
of the problems people have encountered. As you might expect, there's a fair
amount of legal information too. Much of what it covers has its origins in the
peace movement of the 80's, the anti-road protests of the early 90's and the
more recent actions against globalisation.
We hope it will prove useful to activists who've been around for a bit and need to brush up, as well as reducing the need for time consuming training programs. There is also a hope that it will clear some common confusion: it is always handy to be able to consult the actual letter of the law, rather than rely on the addled memory of someone who can't quite remember, yet seems to speak with utter conviction. 'No... I'm sure you have to give your date of birth!'
How to use the toolbox
The toolbox can just be dipped into anytime specific info is needed, rather
than forcing everyone to sit down and go through a long military-style induction
each time an action is planned.
The info here should be reproduced and disseminated however and whenever you
want. We envisaged the CD being burned and given away to new activists for free.
Cover your costs by all means, but don't try and make money out of this project.
We have included templates for labeling the copies you make (click here).
We have tried to lay it all out in a printer-friendly fashion. We have also
reduced the amount of visual clutter - there are no photos and video clips -
it is not for entertainment purposes!
There are also minimal links to webpages, even though much of this stuff is
on the web; we didn't want to assume you have web access all the time, or a
fast processor. Plus web links get broken.
Sources
Most of the information on the CD is culled from the internet, while other bits
were scanned in from booklets and flyers. Almost all of it has been published
somewhere before, by someone else. We wrote very little of it ourselves. We
have credited the author and retained the context of most of the items we 've
culled.
Limitations
What we chose to include/exclude is a bit random really. Sorry. We tried to
get lots in but wanted to get something out quickly, and speed won over exhaustive
research. E-mail us with any suggested additions (toolbox@uhc-collective.org.uk)
and watch out for updated versions!
Also be careful with the legal information in here - laws change! if you are
reading this and its the year 2007 - check for changes to the legislature post
2003!
A note on Californianisation and camp-based bias
Some of the documents in the toolbox originate from the U.S. Please take into
account the cultural background of people who use words like 'vibes watcher',
and persevere. Just because the language used is the literal equivalent of a
big rainbow jumper, doesn't mean the information isn't extremely useful, man.
Also be aware that we culled a lot of this CD from the excellent Road Raging book, now out of print. The road protest info is very good, yet firmly rooted in the UK 'camp-based' protests of the 1990's. A lot has changed since then, and much of the 'dig-in and defend' ethic is for now, a thing of the past.