occupy armenia

8/3/2019 Occupy Armenia

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OCCUPY

ARMENIA

A Guide

to the

General Assembly

Be Reasonable

Demand The Impossible

ZARTONK



The intent of this guide is to provide the reader with information

about how the General Assembly operates and how decisions are made to

organize itself, make declarations, and endorse actions it wishes to put on.

This Guide aims to facilitate and dynamize the development of the distinct

Popular Assemblies generated since the birth of the Occupy Movement.

This Guide will be reprinted and revised periodically. In no case does this

offer a closed model that cannot be adapted by consensus to each respective

concrete Assembly. All persons are invited to attend the Occupy Yerevan

General Assembly and participate in meetings, work plans, and internal

Assemblies- open to all who would like to attend and actively participate in

its maintenance, perfection, and development.

At the writers home, someone asked Zabel Yessayan how she could suffer theinconveniences of Yerevan after the comforts of Paris.

The expression on her face darkened as she delivered the following reply:

“These inconveniences are meaningless in my eyes because I take an active

part in building the future of our country.”

We’re feeling, observing, thinking, listening, talking, proposing,

discussing, cooperating, learning, networking, communicating, attempting to

understand one another, working, building...

We’re struggling... to change an unfair system, we’re questioning its laws,

its methods for participation and economic systems and we’re proposing

specific and feasible alternatives. Our aim is to improve life on this plane

for all its inhabitants.

We’re creating... human and digital networks that give rise to new forms of

collective knowledge, honing our increasingly effective analytical skills an

furthering our joint decision-making mechanisms. We’re the world’s collectivintelligence, in the process of organization.

We’re developing... new ways to organize, interact and live. We’re combating

the stasis induced by the system and pursuing ongoing development and

improvement, active participation, reflection and analysis, decision and

action.



AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT! The Occupy Movement is an international one, inspired by the anti-

dictatorial actions of Arab Spring and the anti-austerity occupations of

Greece and Spain. Taking root in the United States, the heart of corporatism

and corruption, the Occupy Movement now has the momentum of an InternationalMovement. Of course, we here in the Republic of Armenia are in a unique plac

to confront corporatism and corruption, since we live in a landlocked

country, by the greed and want of authoritative elites, oligarchs, and

corrupt politicians mountains are being moved and individual liberties

subverted in the name of ‘progress’ and ‘development’. There is a mass

injustice taking place but we are not alone. The crisis we face is a global

one and the solutions will come from the 99% of the world.

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt! January 25, 2011 was a federal holiday in Egypt to commemorate the

police, but thousands of people called for a “Day of Rage” instead andmarched on the ruling party’s office in Cairo. Thus began the encampment of

Tahrir Square, an occupation of public space that demanded the departure of

President Mubarak and one that captured the attention of the entire world.

The demonstrators took a new position, somewhere between pacifism and

revolutionary violence: they were peaceful by and large, never taking up

arms, but they defended themselves with force from police and pro-government

aggression. On February 11th, buckling to unrelenting pressure across the

whole of the country and much of the world, Mubarak resigned.

It was bloody: at least 846 dead and 6,400 injured. But it provided a

new model of revolution for the 21st century, one that used Twitter,

Facebook, and other communication tools to create a horizontal structure of

resistance.

Sol Square, Madrid, Spain! On the fifteenth of May, 2011, the occupation movement came to Spain.

Tagged on twitter as the #SpanishRevolution, what began with hundreds quickl

became 25,000 and still worked on consensus models of decision making. The

Madrid electoral committee banned demonstrations so close to the elections,

but the demonstrators ignored the prohibition. On May 20th, the occupation

spread to other cities in Spain.

The day of the elections, the movement’s slogan became “they don’t

represent us.” A week later, the police tried to break up the Barcelona

occupation by force. The occupation, much like that in Egypt, chose to defen

itself rather than be bullied out of public space.

After that, the movement spread out to the neighborhoods: there were

general assemblies at 41 neighborhoods in Madrid and 80 municipalities in th

region. In June, protestors blocked politicians from entering the Catalan

parliament. The Spanish camps were not cleared entirely until August.



Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece! The International Monetary Fund was demanding severe cuts from all

sectors of Greek spending, driving the country into economic ruin and people

into misery. In response and directly inspired by the #SpanishRevolution,

occupations sprang up across the country. The demonstrations in SyntagmaSquare in Athens began with over 30,000 participants. The largely peaceful

occupations and demonstrations lasted two months, peaking at 200,000

participants.

At the occupation, anyone expressing an affiliation with a political

party was largely excluded from the conversation: the people of Greece had

tried electoral politics, electing a leftist party into power, but had been

betrayed. Instead, people directly resisted the cuts of public services,

refusing to accommodate the austerity measures, and this directly affected

Greek policy despite overwhelming pressure from international powers.

Liberty Square, New York City, USA ! Facing increasing cuts of public services in the United States, and

frustrated with a society run in the name of corporate interests, an

occupation of Wall Street began on September 17th, 2011. #OccupyWallStreet

was directly inspired by the Spanish model of consensus, horizontal decision

making, and the use of popular media like Twitter and Facebook. Live video o

the occupation has been streaming over the web since the beginning. The

occupation has inspired hundreds of occupations in the United States, in

major cities and universities, leading to notable actions in Oakland and Los

Angeles.

On the night of November 15th, 2011 police in riot gear raided the Wal

Street encampment and evicted all occupiers. Constitutional rights, civil

liberties were violated, nearly 200 were arrested. During the raid the Occup

Wall Street Media Team issued an official statement under the following

heading, “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.”

At the time of this writing, many other encampments have been raided

and cleared.

The movement has spread to neighborhoods across the country: it is

there that the people take an active part in real change. General Assemblies

are still taking place. This is not over, It is a process, It will take time

Republic Square, Yerevan, Armenia ! ...Rise



PRINCIPLES OF SOLIDARITY

All life is one.

Our oneness calls us to want, and to work for, the perpetuity of love. We ardirected by great feelings of love for humanity. One must have a large dose

of humanity, a large dose of a sense of justice and truth in order to avoid

dogmatic extremes, cold scholasticism, or an isolation from the masses. We

must strive every day so that this love of living humanity is transformed

into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force.

! All of humanity is entitled to the same rights and freedoms, without

distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation,

language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,

property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made o

the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the

country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Four distinct freedoms shall be maintained:

Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear.



PRINCIPLES OF NON-VIOLENCE

1) Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.

• It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.

• It is assertive spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

• It is always persuading the opponent of the justice of your cause.

2) Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.

• The end result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.

• The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Civil Society.

3) Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people.

• Nonviolence holds that wrongdoers are also victims.

4) Nonviolence holds that voluntary suffering can educate and transform.

• Nonviolence willingly accepts the consequences of its acts.

• Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation.

• Nonviolence accepts violence if necessary, but will never inflict it.

• Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous educational and

transforming possibilities.

• Suffering can have the power to convert the enemy when reason fails.

5) Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.

• Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as of the body.

• Nonviolent love gives willingly, knowing that the return might be

hostility.

• Nonviolent love is active, not passive.

• Nonviolent love does not sink to the level of the hater.

• Love for the enemy is how we demonstrate love for ourselves.

• Love restores community and resists injustice.

• Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.

6) Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.

• The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win



Collective Thought

! Collective thought is that which is the result of a synthesis of

individual intelligences and ideas, not an eclectic sum, but a synthesis.Individual intelligences put to the service of the common good, a creation

from difference, understanding difference as an element which provides

enrichment of common understanding: Feel part of a whole, Stop letting

feelings of “otherness” permeate.

Collective thought is totally opposite the current system, which is

governed by individual thought. Normally before a decision is made two peopl

with opposing ideas will have to fiercely confront and defend each other’s

ideas, with the objective being to convince, win-over, or arrive at a middle

point.

The Objective of collective thought is to construct. That is to say,

two people with different ideas put their energies into constructingsomething. It doesn’t seek, therefor, towards the either/or-your idea or

mine. It is both ideas together, in communion, which will give us a new

product which a priori we did not know- neither you nor I. For this reason

active listening--where we are not only preparing the reply which we will

give--is so necessary.



GENERAL ASSEMBLY

! An Assembly is a meeting space of equality between persons who have a

common end.It could be:

Information: participants give information of common interest.

There is no debate.

Reflection: Try to think together about a subject, a situation,

or a problem. Information is needed but there does

not need to a be a decision at the moment.

Decision: Implies that the group should reach some common

conclusion or resolution about the worked uponsubject. To reach that it is necessary to take the

two anterior steps (have information and think about

it) to reach the construction of a consensus.

A Popular Assembly is a participatory decision-making body which seeks

consensus. It seeks the best arguments to make a decision that is most in

agreement with different opinions, not pitting them against one another like

what happens when there is a vote. Its development should be peaceful,

respecting every one’s opinions. We must leave prejudices and ideologies at

home.

An assembly should not center itself on ideological discourse but onpractical questions: “What do we need? How do we get what we need?”

The assembly is based on free association, if you’re not in agreement

with what has been divided, you’re not obligated to do it. Everyone is free

to do as they wish, the assembly seeks to generate collective intelligence,

common lines of thinking, and action. It foments dialogue and we get to lear

about each other.

Many different kinds of assemblies have been employed until now;

Work-Group assemblies, Committee assemblies, Neighborhood and Municipal

Assemblies and General Assemblies in occupations and regions throughout the

world.

These General Assemblies are the ultimate deliberative instance, afterwhich final consensus is adopted to articulate distinct lines of Joint Actio

for the particular autonomous groups involved in the movement.



Consensu

! Consensus is an inclusive and non-hierarchical process for group

devision making. It is a method by which the input and ideas of allparticipants are gathered and synthesized in order to arrive at a final

decision acceptable to all. Through consensus, we are not only working to

achieve better solutions, but paving the way for an egalitarian model of

community decision making.

Consensus means that the group has come to a devision in which everyon

feels their position on the matter was considered carefully and addressed as

much as possible. It doesn’t mean that every single person agrees that the

decision made is the only way to do things. Consensus is the collective

development of a solution or a decision about a common subject. It is not th

development of a proposal which includes all individual necessities but a

synthesis of all the individual opinions for the construction of the bestoption for the common object of the collective.

It implies:

Having clear a common objective of the collective.

Have a conscience that the collective is built beginning with the

contributions and knowledge of each individual, of which is

necessary the communication, attention , and respect of the

opinions of each individual.

Know that this is not a competition, but a construction.

Know that it requires a process, and give it time to take the

steps necessary for it.

The steps are:Create a group climate of relaxation, attention, respect, and

complicity within the group.

Have a clarity about the task which is to be worked on.

Offer the information to each individual or subgroup, so that it

serves as elements of analysis for reflection.

Make a reflection.

Start building the proposal beginning with the points which are

clearly held in common.

Advance, step by step in the development of the proposal through

collective thought.

Celebrate the achievement of that collective thought.

Direct Consensus: is reached WITHOUT contrary opinions,

in a direct form: Proposal Consensus

Indirect Consensus: Consensus which is reached after debating different

positions surrounding a proposal which HAS NOT reached Direct Consensus.



Consensus Proces

! Consensus is the form of final decision of the Assemblies on each

concrete proposal that is shared. Proposals can be presented by a Committee,a Work Group, or an individual person- at the Yerevan General Assembly, all

proposals need to be submitted through the proposal process. A consensus is

reached (for now) when, in the assembly, there is NO singles position roundl

against that which is presented.

All Proposals should be presented according to this formula:

What: What is being proposed

Why: Why is it being proposed

How: If consensus is reached, how would the said proposal be

developed.

Steps to reach Indirect Consensus:

Proposal-->

Open/Close Stack for Questions--> Temp-Check (any hard blocks?)

No Consensus?--> Open/Close stacks for

Concerns/Affirmations/Friendly Amendments

Restate/Reform--> Temp-Check--> Consensus?

No?--> Break-Out

Restate/Reform--> Temp-Check--> Consensus?

No--> Open/Close Stack(C/A/FA)

Restate?--> Temp-Check?--> Consensus?

No--> Send back for development.



Definition

! Temp-Check:

Assembled Persons are asked to represent their feelings withthe common hand-gestures

Stack:

Ordered commentary around a proposal

Concerns:

Reasons for not supporting or feeling positive about this proposal

Affirmation:

Reasons for supporting this proposal

Friendly-Amendments:

Changes to proposal that would help in its

application and/or help build consensus

Restate/Reformulation:

Restate and/or reformulate the proposal based upon what was heard in

discussions

Break-out:

Assembled Persons dialogue in seats for 3-5 minutes.



ROLES (FUNCTIONS

! It is important to maintain calm body language so as not to transmit t

the assembly any feelings or personal opinions; we remind at all times thevalue of a smile in moments of tension or blockage.

Fatigue and hurry are the enemies of consensus.

Logistics Team : Upwards of three people in charge of facilitating and/or

employing the tools necessary for the development of the Assembly(drawing a

seating map on the floor to organize spaces, passages to permit movement

among those seated, control of the microphone, offer chairs or seats to

people with diminished mobility or energy, give out water or umbrellas in th

case of heat and sun, etc.)

Assembled Persons: Every person attending the Assembly, including theFacilitation Teams and members of the Committees or Groups. They are the

reason for being of the Assembly. Its beginning is its ultimate end. We are

all responsible for the dynamics and construction within the assembly.

Its function: Hear distinct speakers; participate in questions which require

debate through Stacks, and create individual proposal or subjective

valorizations in the “Open-Mic” time (made available normally towards the en

of each assembly) by signing up with the comrades keeping stack.

Stackers: From two to four people (according to the number of people

assembled) situated amongst the Assembled Persons near the aisle-ways. It is

recommended that they carry something distinctive so that they can be locatequickly. Often carrying a sign saying “STACK” lifted high for visibility,

especially after each commentary. They are in charge of writing down all

requests for a Speaking Turn by all those who ask for one.

To prevent disorder and to make the process more agile, they ask requesting

comrades:

Is this related to what we are speaking about?

Are you repeating directly something that has already been said?

In favor or against?

With this information, the comrade will indicate if this can be passed into

the the Shadow-Stackers or (if it is not directly related to the subject up

for debate) they will take their name down to call them for the “Open Mic”turn(there is no rebuttal phase).

They maintain a conciliatory, positive, neutral, and patient profile.

They also collect the requests for relief of the person moderating that turn

As is possibly, give priority of speaking turns to people who have not yet

spoken. A habitual slip is not announcing the close of each Speaking Turn

within each subject of debate. It is convenient to limit this according to

general feeling so as not to elongate each question.



ROLES (FUNCTIONS

Shadow Stackers: One or two people in close and constant communication with

the “STACKERS” in charge of collecting the distinct petitions for SpeakingTurns that arrive in order to sort them and pass them along to the

moderators. In the case of being in the middle of an open debate, above all

if it is heated, they inform and coordinate the distinct Speaking Turns in

waiting so as to avoid repetitions of the same messages or mediate between

similar positions so that they are presented as a single message which

unifies the common contents.

The coordinators only serve as a formal filter, in no case will they

asses the value of the contents of each intervention. In order to insure tha

speakers stay on point, they should first remind them of the topic of debate

in the case of not being related they should inform speakers of other spaces

for debate and reflection (speaker-corners, work-groups). Once speakers arecoordinated, the team will indicate to facilitators the agreed upon order so

that the moderator knows who goes first.

Team-Shadow Moderators: Two or three people who support the moderator. They

are the checks and balances of the moderator. The only ones who directly

influence the moderator to favor his/her concentration and impartiality. The

are located around the moderator’s space. They are in charge of helping the

person moderating to synthesize and reformulate proposals in an objective an

impartial way, facilitate the flow of information that comes from

“Coordination” to the moderator so that he/she can allow people to speak in

an approriate order; try to prevent that any assembled person distracts theconcentration of the moderator, and they should help those people who have a

hard time speaking in public; slipping them vocabulary, making them aware of

possibly errors in synthesis of each speech, informing them of some sudden

notice, reminding them of the Order of the Day in the case of difficulties,

etc.

An important support function to insure the positive development of the

assembly can be to incorporate various persons who concentrate on intervenin

dirtly in the case of stoppages, overheated discussions, or significant

deviations from the subject. Its function would be to remind the assembly of

the value of Collective Thought, the importance of Active Listening, and the

meaning of Consensus.



ROLES (FUNCTIONS

Rotative Moderator(s): One ore more persons who can rotate in the case of a

high number of attendees or accumulated tension in the assembly. It will

always be the moderation team as a whole which decides when and how arotation is completed, always with the goal of the correct development of th

Assembly. The moderator could ask voluntarily for a rotation. The moderator

should help the assembly flow, uniting the feelings of the assembly more tha

respecting a protocol, the ideal would be that this figure is dispensable

(all should respect all).

They are in charge of welcoming attending people; informing about the

nature and basic function of the Assembly, presenting the facilitation teams

and their functions; Moderate, in a positive and conciliatory way,

divergences without positioning themselves with any position presented.

Inform about the evolution of each round of positions in favor or against

during the process of Indirect Consensus. Briefly recap each comment duringthose rounds of debate and after those comments which require it. And repeat

consensuses as they have been taken in the Minutes. They will also explain

the symbols that attendees use in case the speaker does not know them (it is

recommended that the public be advised not to express these motions―as much

as possible―until each comment is finished, so as not to condition the

speaker).

Just the same, this person is in charge of favoring a fluid and

positive climate for exchanging of ideas in the most objective tone possible

In case of it being necessary to alleviate certain tensions generated, remin

of the positive value that all debate gives the Movement and motivate those

in attendance to favor their participation and good energy. In the case ofbeing considered necessary, the moderator could be substituted by the

consented petition of the assembly. The moderation team should inform the

assembly of all conversations they have away from the microphone to foment

transparency.

Moderator: The moderator’s job is to help the group efficiently move through

the agreed-upon agenda and to make room for people to have their opinions

heard on the topics being discussed. Moderators should see that speaking

turns are evenly distributed, that quiet people get a chance to speak and

people who talk too much are given a change to listen. The facilitator shoul

not use their position as a platform from which to offer solutions; solutionshould arise from the group, and no one should facilitate if they find they

have strong opinions on a given issue. A facilitator can always hand over he

or his responsibilities temporarily if s/he feels it necessary to step down.

The group should not rely upon the Moderator to solve process problem, but

should be ready to help with suggestions on how to proceed.



ROLES (FUNCTIONS

INTERPRETERS: One or two people in charge of translating into sign-language

all oral commentary from the Assembly and to translate to the Assembly the

possible comments of people with auditory or verbal disabilities; they shoulhave one support person in front of them. To facilitate their work it is

important not to stand in front of them or talk too fast In the case of bein

exposed to direct sunlight, the Logistics Team will situate two people behin

the interpreters with umbrellas to give them shade. Other language

interpreters will also be called for to facilitate discussion for

participants who may not be comfortable speaking and listening to Armenian

Fluidly.

Minutes: One or two people in charge of taking note of all commentary, while

not having to take down an exact transcript. In the case of consensusresolutions they can solicit the textual repetition of the agreed upon point

to be ratified by the assembly and so that they can be written correctly.

Normally, one takes notes by hand and another by computer, in order to check

each other if the need arises. In case of direct sunlight, the logistics tea

can situate people behind the Minutes team to give them shade. They should

read all points of consensus to the assembly at the end of each session so

that all agreements are clear.

Making a Decision in a Limited Amount of TimeIt is the moderator’s responsibility to quickly and succinctly articulate th

problem to be discussed and to eliminate those points on which agreement has

already been reached. It is the responsibility of everyone in the group to

keep the discussion to a minimum if quick action is called for. If a point

has already been made by someone else, don’t restate it. A calm approach and

a clear desire to come to an agreement quickly can help the process. Don’t

let anxiety overwhelm your trust in each other or your purpose in the action

Strong Objections should be limited to matters of principle.



Symbology

With the goal of making the processes of collective expression more

agile in the Assemblies, the following body motions have been agreed upon:

Description:

Hold your hands up, palm open, and fan your fingers back and

forth.

Meaning:

You agree with the proposal or you like what your are hearing

Description:

Hold your hands downward and fan your fingers back and forth.

Meaning:

You disagree with the proposal or dislike what your are

hearing.

Description:

Hold your hands flat and fan your fingers up and down

Meaning:

You’re taking a neutral stance on the proposal



Symbology

Description:

Curl your hands and fingers into a letter-C shape.

Meaning:

You either have or need clarifying information

Description:

Raise your index finger up.

Meaning:

You have information pertinent to the discussion

(not your opinions).



Symbology

Description:

Make a triangle shape with your hand by joining your index

fingers and thumbs.

Meaning:

Telling the group that the process by which discussions are

held is not being followed.

Description:

Cross your arms in front of your chest to form an X.

Meaning:

You have very strong moral or ethical reservations about th

proposal and will consider leaving the group if it passes.

Used to denote outright objection. The proposal or

commentary threatens the solidarity of the movement.

Consensus cannot be reached(currently) whilst these

positions exist.

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