Complexity and Social Movements: Multitudes at the Edge of Chaos ...

52 Identities, protest dynamics and technology
wandered Prague for more than a day failing to make physical contact with
anyone. When contact was established locals pre-occupation with the
potential for failure and police brutality produced very different pre-event
‘frames’ and the rapid reconfiguration of internationals CMC perceptions
I immediately felt like this colonial activist arriving in this in an alien
culture so it was difficult to be optimistic or try and push optimism that
one felt, not knowing the situation.
(Interview with British Activist [2])
Others considered that ‘it was quite racist actually that they were coming
in and imposing their own agenda on this thing’ (Interview British Activist
[4]). The ‘internationals’ commitment to non-violence intensified these
differences as training sessions began
the person who was asked to do the training was this woman called
Starhawk . . . She had been brought over and she is a great trainer but
coming from such a different cultural background there was already a
real difficulty there between this total commitment to non-violence,
totally committed to process, all the stuff that was really alien to the
Czech activists, really really alien.
(Interview British Activist [2])
The establishment of the S26 convergence centre 8 provided a physical
space within which street techniques deploying elements of carnivalesque
confrontation were discussed, negotiated and rehearsed. Negotiation and
communication required translation into a variety of languages and
over time the primary language used switched from Czech to English – a
significant transition in terms of local co-ordination of the event.
The ‘micro-physics’ of power in convergence spaces are critical to the
negotiation of collective identities within plateaux melding social, physical
and affective factors. In Prague the convergence centre was a large disused
factory/warehouse space where the acoustics limited effective communications
in large groups. Language barriers and acoustics combined to produce a
frustrating environment within which to work. The importance attached to
non-verbal communication by Bateson become tangible in such contexts.
Several respondents emphasised the importance of music, dance, and shared
activity in establishing trust relations. The rehearsal of a Samba band
contributed significantly to the consolidation of a group ethos and the
creation of a positive energy – processes with military parallels in terms of
morale and motivation. This gamut of exchanges introduced repertoires of
action and their philosophical underpinnings from London, Washington,
Seattle and elsewhere to Czech activist circles through the cultural capital
of key movement figures acting as ‘free radicals’.