SITUATIONISTS AND THE 1£CH MAY 1968

simple wooden table at which the chairman sat.
Having seen meetings of so break up in chaos it
is an amazing experience to see a meeting of
sooo get down to business. Real events determined
the themes and ensured that most of the
talk was down to earth.
The topic having been decided, everyone
was allowed to speak. Most speeches were
made from the podium but some from the body
of the hall or from the balconies. The loudspeaker
equipment usually worked but sometimes
didn't. Some speakers could command immediate
attention, without even raising their voices.
Others would instantly provoke a hostile
response by the stridency of their tone, their
insincerity or their more or less obvious
attempts at manoeuvring the assembly. Anyone
who waffled, or reminisced, or came to recite a
set-piece, or talked in terms of slogans, was
given short shrift by the audience, politically the
most sophisticated I have ever seen. Anyone
making practical · suggestions was listened to
attentively. So were those who sought to interpret
the movement in terms of its own experience
or to point the way ahead.
Most speakers were granted three minutes.
Some were allowed much more by popular
acclaim. The crowd itself exerted a tremendous
control on the platform and on the speakers. A
two-way relationship emerged very quickly. The
political maturity of the Assembly was shown
most stril