occupation: do it yourself guide

8/3/2019 Occupation: Do It Yourself Guide

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APPENDIX: DIY OCCUPATION GUIDE

We in the US have been too timid for

too long. We are afraid of the cops. We are

afraid of losing our jobs or getting expelled

from school. No one wants to take r isks; no

one wants anyone else to take risks. Pro-

tests are boring, poorly attended and inef-

fective. Peaceful marches or rallies reduce

us to passive observers of what is supposed

to be our own activity. We are told to ex-

press our anger and frustration by shouting

or chanting, but otherwise, we are asked to

exercise restraint.

At the UCSC walkout on Sept 24,

protestors chanted and carried signs, butthey crossed the street only when the

walk sign was lit. They would march

across the street, push the button to cross

at the next intersection and wait patiently

for the light to change. The striking union,

UPTE, had a picket line but did not ac-

tively prevent people from crossing that

line. They knew that most unions at the UC

have contracts which explicitly force their mem-

bers to cross the picket lines of other unions. In

Berkeley, at the general assembly held on

the same day, protestors were asked: what

do you want to do next? But they were

never asked the obvious questionwhat

do you want to do right now?

Why not decide on an immediate

course of action and do it? Organizers

complain they are losing members with

each successive meeting; they seem to be-

lieve that meeting is an end in itself!

This wall of passivity can only be dis-

mantled through action. But equally, we

have to avoid the temptation of becom-

ing activists. On Sept 17, activists in-

terrupted a meeting of the UC Board of

Regents. They shouted at Mark Yudof, re-

fused to quiet down and were arrested by

cops. These sacrificial actions are disrup-

tivebut only momentari ly. They depend

on the media to publicize their greiv-

ances, but, to gain this attention, activists

must provoke the administration into an

embarassing confrontation. Administra-

tors are not so stupid. They know how to

neutralize these actions: they simply avoidconfrontation. After the protestors were

dragged from the room, Yudof said, the

students ought to be angry about the fee

increases. Im angry about it, too.

These are the problems we face: not

only the cutsnot only the crisis which

caused the cutsbut the ineffectiveness

of our means of fighting them. We need

to build a movement, but we find that we

cannot. People will only join a movement

if it has the potential to change some-

thing, but a movement will only change

something if people join it. So everyone

does what is in their own best interests:

they ignore the protestors and get on

with their lives. Better to try to find a new

job than waste time failing to get your old

one back. The problem is not a lack of

consciousness. People evaluate their situa-

tion and act accordingly.

It is the activists who fail to understand.

Everything is set up in advance to

ensure that nothing actually changes. Weare given a menu of options for manag-

ing the crisis and another for fighting the

cuts. We do the hard work of organizing.

We attend interminable meetings and

plan largely symbolic actions. These things

change nothing. The problem is simple:

no decision making body has the power

to give us what we wantand especially

during a crisis, when the very existence of

capitalism is at stake. The deans and chan-

cellors making the cuts are subordinate to

the UC president. The UC president is

subordinate to the Board of Regents. The

Board of Regents gets its money from the

legislature. And the hands of the legislature

are tied by the the California constitution,

which requires a two-thirds majority to

raise taxes.We must reject all options on of-

fer and demonstrate that without nego-

tiations it is still possible to act. This is why

we do not make demands. All demands

assume the existence of a power capable

of conceding them. We know this power

does not exist. Why go through the mo-

tions of negotiation when we know we

will not win anything but paltry conces-

sions? Better to reveal the nature of the

situation: there is no power to which we

can appeal except that which we have

found in one another.

That is also why we reject the logic

of representation. No representative, no

matter how char ismatic, can achieve any-

thing of consequence, except to depriveus of our own agency. Having represen-

tatives reduces us, once again, to passive

onlookers upon our own activity. We

have to take matters into our own hands.

A huge demonstration is not a means to

better bargaining; it is nothing if it is not

an end in itself. A huge demonstration

becomes an end in itself only when peo-

ple at the demonstration start to act on

their own; when they reject the leaders

who, acting on their own interests, tell

people to be reasonable to wait for the

right moment.

We do not want to wait any longer. We

cannot afford to wait any longer.

This pamphlet is a guide to immediate

action. It explains how to occupy build-

ings, with particular attention to uni-

versities. That is not because we believe

students at the university have a special

role to play, or because occupations are

the only tactic with which we agree. It

is simply because we areat the university,we haveoccupied a building here and we

begin with what we know.

Occupations are a common tactic

used at universities and other workplaces

around the world. In 1999, students oc-

cupied the National Autonomous Uni-

versity of Mexico, the largest university in

Latin America, to ensure that university

education would remain free. In 2006,

students occupied universities through-

out France to repeal the CPE amend-

ment, which would have made it easier

for bosses to fire young workers. In 2008,

workers occupied the Republic Windows

and Doors factory in Chicago, winning

concessions from Bank of America. In

2009, workers occupied the Ssangyong

car factory in South Korea, holding it fortwo months and fighting a pitched battle

against the police. These are only a few

examples of what came before we occu-

pied the Graduate Student Commons at

UCSC in September.

We have been criticized for having

acted as clandestine adventurists, for ig-

noring the democratic process. We have

seen the results of that process far too

many times. It is never the case that, after

people see the failures of letter-writing

campaigns or teach-ins, they decide to

try something else. They are disheartened

that their hard work has come to noth-

ing, and they return to their normal lives.

When the next cr isis occurs, new people

get involved and democratically decide tomake the same mistakes.

We have lived through too many cycles

of failure and seek to try something else.

We wager that when people see what

we are doing, they too will get involved.

So far, that has proven true. Once enough

people are involved, we will no longer

have to act in a clandestine fashion. We

will openly decide what to do next. Will

we march immediately to the adminstra-

tive building and occupy it indefinitely,

without demands? Maybe we march from

building to building with bullhorns, call-

ing students and workers out into the

street? Perhaps we will march to the base

of campus and set up barr icades, blocking

entrances to the university.

In any case, we know that our move-

ment will only grow in and through ac-

tion. We do not have to wait: we can act

now and act later. If in the past, it has taken

longer to organize these sorts of actions,

that is either because people started too

big, or because they were up against stron-ger foes than the bumbling adminstration

of a California public university. In fact,

the reason it took so long to organize

this action was simply that many were

afraid. We respect these fears even if we

encourage everyone to push their bound-

aries. Others will join the movement, not

when their consciousness is raised to the

appropriate level, but when they decide

that participation is worth the associated

risks. Some people feel they have noth-

ing to lose and get involved immediately.

Others have so much to lose that they

will only get involved at the last possible

moment. We trust one another to know

what to do.

Those we meet who are neither hos-

tile to change as such nor self-described

leaders offended by action taken with-

out their permission have not criticized

us for acting too soon but for occupying

such an insignificant building. To these we

reply: you are not alone in your desire for

escalation. Find us. When we have more

numbers, we will take more and more

buildings until the campus is ours.

Of course, the goal is not to shut down

campus as an end in itself. Once we dem-

onstrate our collective power to dissolve

the university, we will decide together

what to do next. By then, others will have

taken action at other workplaces, and we

will be able to decide with them. We know

only this: that when we get the chance to

strike, we will take it without hesitation.We will take whatever measures are neces-

sary both to destroy this world as quickly

as possible and to create, here and now, the

world we want:

OCCUPATIONa do-it-yourself guide

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DISCLAIMER: THIS GUIDE IS INTENDED

FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

OCCUPY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

PREFACE:WHY OCCUPY?

A WORLD WITHOUT WAGES,

WITHOUT BOSSES, WITHOUT

BORDERS, WITHOUT STATES


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Plan ahead.

clandestine adventurists or at the headof a large and unruly crowd, it is goodidea to plan ahead.

doors will we have to lock down? Whatsorts of furniture are available for build-ing barricades?

outside or around the building. Are thereescape routes? Are there rocks to throwat cops?

Draw a large crowd to the occupation.

everyday people, is our first line ofdefense against a police attack.

a large crowd will probably form anywayto gawk at the spectacle.

space is to get that crowd as closeto the building as possible before thepolice arrive.

the crowd will be between us and thecops, rather than outside police lines.

people, the cops will be less likely touse extreme force to remove us from thebuilding.

some kind: to discuss the crisis or justto dance; or announce the occupaiton atsome other groups meeting.

crowd that an occupation is occuringand rush them over to the building asquickly as possible.

the crowd that we all have to occupy abuilding immediately and then do it.

Get control over a door.

to get a sense of how we can openup the space to other people once theoccupation is under way.

or some other method of getting peopleinto and out of the space.

sure people know not to barricade thisone entrance too heavily.

be opened and closed easily, so whenthe time is right, we can let more peopleinto the space.

Open the space to other people.

should let in to the space, but it is bestto let in everyone (reserving the right toturn away sketchy people).

sketchy people in are minimal comparedto what we gain by making the occupa-tion open to everyone.

risks taken by the original occupiers. Its

also the point of occupyingto build amovement through action.

If there is a continual police presence,having a crowd inside police barricadesallows people to move in and out of thebuilding via the crowd.

Transform the space.

When we occupy spaces, we never uselibraries are not for studying.

We take over spaces to transform theiruses: we organize to occupy more spacesand build a social movement, but we alsohave fun.

Throw a sick as fuck dance party!Do not make occupations into arrest

actions.

Occupations are tactics within a broaderstruggle. There is no reason to getarrested just to prove a point. When allelse fails, run away!

RECONNAISANCE

Choosing a building:

windows).

Who owns the building?

Some occupations are more disruptive

than others.-

tive building would be more disruptivethan occupying a student space.

buildings are harder to hold. Theyrebetter left until we have a large socialmovement.

our purported representatives: unions,student government, etc.

When doing reconnaissance, be dis-

creet but thorough:

be secured?

are they opened (handles)?

supports (poles, pipes). Are there any

available?barricades?

that we can open it, either to let peoplein or to make an escape?

notes. It is always harder to rememberthe details than you think!

We may be in there for a while:

water?

out without opening a door?

Often it is possible to secure a floor oreven a room, leaving the rest of the buildingintact.

SECURING DOORS

Doors open either towards the inside or theoutside.

are the easiest to secure because wecan barricade them closed.

tend to open out, so we have to securethe door independently of the barricade.

Different doors have different types ofhandles and are thus secured in differentways. Here are some examples.

Tie one end of a cable lock aroundthe door handle. Tie the other endto a structure support, or even toanother door handle. If no structuralsupports are available, use a piece offurniture or a large block of woodanything larger than the door frame.

If there is a space between the barand the door, tie one end of a cablelock around the bar and the other endto a support.

If there is no space, secure a C-clampto the bar. Loop the cable lock throughthe space created by the clamp.

Almost impossible to secure withoutdamaging the doors. Unless they openinto the occupied space, avoid them.

BE CREATIVE!

Make sure the doors are secured as tightlyas possible:

lock can be cut.

another.

doors without dissassembling the lock-ing mechanism.

BUILDING BARRICADES

Whenever possible, build barricades bothinside and outside the doors.

For the inside:

the doors.

we want to control.

easily pushed aside, once doors arebreached.

to keep the barricade in place (ie bypushing on it).

For the outside:

-ing and especially against the doors.

the crowd inside the barricades.

and build outside barricades and thendisperse.

chain-link fences, garbage cans filledwith rocks.

which door we want to control, so theydo not barricade it too heavily.

OUTSIDE SUPPORT: LEGAL TEAM

Before the event takes place, contact alawyer:

legal support. Most lawyers will wantto meet with the occupiers before theaction takes place.

some experience with university courts.

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GENERAL THEORY OF OCCUPATIONS


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Have people fill out a legal release form andprovide medical information beforehand, incase of arrest.

Have a legal support team:

any abuse by police officers.

for jail support. Occupiers should writethis number on their body.

We should have our IDs and change for thephone, but little else as it will be taken in the

event of arrest

Know your rights:

your name, that you do not consent toany searches and that you will not speakuntil your lawyer is present.

police officer stops you, ask if you arebeing detained. If you are not beingdetained, walk away.

while committing a crime raises thecharge to a felony. If the mask has some-thing written on it, it may be protectedby the 1st amendment.

OUTSIDE SUPPORT:

MEDICAL TEAM

Have assigned medics both inside andoutside:

specific individuals involved in the actionbeforehand (medications, allergies).

with you:

Water, latex gloves, duct tape,band-aids, gauze and tape, hydrogenperoxide, neosporin, aspirin, benadryl,emergenC.

Wear or bring with you:

long-sleeves, eye protection, clothes tochange into.

Do NOT wear:

things which can be easily grabbed. Donot use tampons if you may end up in jail.

For pepper-spray: clean out eyes with amixture of milk of magnesia and water.

For tear-gas: cover mouth with a cloth soakedin vinegar or water; use eye-protection.

OUTSIDE SUPPORT:

MEDIA TEAM

This is not a symbolic action, but it is stillimportant to have a media team. Have one ormore people designated as media contacts,on the outside of the occupation:

people as delegates, not representativesof those involved.

alternative media such as Indybay allowsfor self-publication of events.

Set up an email address and websiteassociated with the occupation: make thisinformation easily available.

anyone involved in the action.

No particular individuals inside the occupa-tion should become too visible, lest they bebranded as leaders.

No one on the inside should give televisedinterviews, or any more information aboutthemselves than is necessary.

Press Releases:

before the occupation is announced.

you provide a reasoned explanation forwhat you are doing.

-vent people from expressing themselvesin their own way.

distribute flyers keeping people informedabout what you are doing.

write as much as possible about whatyou are doing. Keep a diary of dailytwists and turns for posterity.

OTHER THINGS TO ORGANIZE:

Collect phone numbers to set up an emer-gency mass text-message in case of a policeraid.

the first few hours. Do not overpack.

medical supplies, but not much else.

need them.

confiscate your supplies.

If you are successful, people can bring youextra supplies:

Food, cigarettes, blankets, etc.

Share everything. Inside the occupation,there is no private property.

Break down barriers between people.

If possible, take pictures of building beforeyou leave, for legal reasons.

No one on the inside should give televisedinterviews, or any more information aboutthemselves than is necessary.

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occupation: do it yourself guide

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