[New-imc] Responses to Membership Criteria

[boud]

Hi everyone at IMC Bombay/Mumbai & new-imc,
   i think the IMC Bombay/Mumbai group is showing both a lot more
autonomy and energy and a real practice of networking that some of the other
aspiring IMCs have been a bit slower to get into, i'm really pleased,
and i think they'll soon be contributing a lot to the network...

My only major request remaining is the editorial policy.

initial Bombay/Mumbai request:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/2002-June/003642.html

a reply:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/2002-June/003644.html

a few questions from Petros:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/2002-June/003645.html

We now have the membership criteria in the previous message:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/2002-July/003790.html

and i've put the (initial) mission statement here just to have it clear:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/2002-July/003791.html


Regarding membership criteria, i still have a few questions about
c. outreach and comments about g. decision-making (see below), but i
think the most important thing is that the Bombay/Mumbai people are
*aware* of the need to discuss decision-mkaing and have committed
themselves to tackling this sooner or later. Given how well they have
followed the procedure so far, i (at least) am certainly willing to
trust them on this and so i do *not* see this as a reason for delaying
their membership application.

How do other new-imc people feel on this?

It seems to me that apart from maybe some response to my questions/
comments below on the membership criteria, only one major thing remains
before proposing IMC Bombay/Mumbai to the new-imc: 

MAJOR THING THAT STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE:

6b) editorial policy (less easy than it sounds)

> e. Establish and publish an editorial policy which is developed and 
> functions through democratic process, and with full transparency,
> 
> A: We are working on and developing an editorial policy which will be 
> finalized and up very shortly.

Bombay people: 
* Remember that confusion about either theoretical or practical
editorial policy (relating to where to draw the line between
anti-zionism - criticism of actions of the state of Israel - and anti-semitism -
racism) has been one (but not the only) factor in big problems in IMC
Switzerland and IMC France. i would suggest that you think about issues
which might be controversial in Bombay (and relate to legal censorship related
threats) and think of some ways that you could be prepared for these
or avoid them *before* they happen.  (A technical idea i had would
be to put a "stamp" on every hidden article, e.g. "THIS IS A HIDDEN
ARTICLE", so that nobody can claim that this is "typical" IMC material.
i imagine that this could not be too difficult to implement, but you'll
need to ask a techie.)

* Many IMCs create editorial lists where a comment must be written
each time a post is hidden. You are of course welcome to make a list,
e.g. imc-mumbai-edito , but you need to directly email to
listwork at lists.indymedia.org with your request, since
newlist.indymedia.org is out of order at the moment.

Anyway, keep working on it and once we receive the editorial policy at
new-imc, i think we should be ready to formally propose your IMC. :)


MINOR THINGS THAT STILL NEED TO BE DONE:
- revised mission statement (could be shorter or longer) based on comments
from the new people involved since the initial statement
- comments on my questions/comments below
- answers to petros' comments above ?



MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA - detailed questions, comments:

C. HAVE OPEN AND PUBLIC MEETINGS 
> * Open = means that diverse people and groups are welcome to attend and that 
> no attempt is made to exclude people based on their sex, race, gender, 
> class, age, ability or religion. 

Do you have any groups (or individuals) from the following oppressed groups
who are presently involved and given equal decision-making, coordinating power,
or with whom you are likely to get into contact with soon?

(1) women's rights groups
(2) dalits' rights groups
(3) adivasis' rights groups
(4) muslims' rights groups 

Please don't think i'm trying to imply that you have *excluded* any of
these groups! It's simply that this sort of outreach takes effort and
time - talking, listening, understanding, maybe changing one's own
opinions - and it's at the heart of what Indymedia is about.


G. DECISION-MAKING POLICY
> There has been little "decision-making" as much as everyone has 
> expressed opinions, come up with ideas, and things have mostly flowed 
> without the need for a formal "facilitator". 

Well, it seems to me that decisions have been made: when and where to 
hold meetings, having strict dates by which membership criteria should
be discussed online:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-mumbai/2002-July/000042.html
> Tue, 9 Jul 2002 04:18:52 +0530 
...
> THIS DOCUMENTS 
> MUST BE PASSED BY EVERYONE ON THIS LIST BY SUNDAY 14 JULY

decisions on whether or not you collectively feel that the group has
done enough organising to make the new-imc application, decisions on
how to use the list imc-mumbai.

Just because decisions have "mostly flowed" without anyone complaining
does not mean that decisions have not been taken. Sometimes quieter people
or people with less experience in talking in front of a group of people
they don't know (or that they do know) are just too shy to make their
comments. 

Anyway, this is why this really does need to be discussed. You can of
course do this by practice and correct along the way - but IMHO, you
need to be aware that decisions *are* being made and have conscious
discussion about decision-making.

Here are some suggestions for some good documents on decision-making:
WHY CONSENSUS?
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-communication/2001-February/002786.html
A FORMAL CONSENSUS METHOD
http://www.radio4all.org/aia/dec_consensus.html

CONSENSUS AS TACTIC, NOT PRINCIPLE, Brian Dominick & Michael Albert:
http://www.zmag.org/forums/consenthread.htm


i have another comment about newswire vs mailing lists, but it's
not, strictly speaking, a membership criterion, so i'll put it in 
a following email.


So, looking forward to an editorial policy!

solidarity
boud