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The Arc and Fall
Mar. 15th, 2008 12:18 pmLast semester, the St Andrews Socialists staged a coup. Well, y'know, not really, but we called it that because it was exciting. Basically, we'd all been feeling a bit annoyed with the Students' Association. A few of us had had people whispering to us that we ought to run for election to the Students' Representative Council, and the more we discussed it, the more we liked the idea. We would all run, we thought--get in there, be a voice for change from the inside. So when nominations opened in late October, 11 of us* ran for election. The President, Tom D'Ardenne, was pretty supportive, since he's spent a lot of time trying to pursuade people to get involved in the Union, and especially to run for election to any of the various positions (in the sweet but misguided notion that 'competition for elected positions' = 'democracy'). Steve Savage, the Director of Representation, reacted with not-quite-veiled annoyance, presumably because most of us were the same people who'd done the die-in in Freshers' Week. The DoR holds quite a lot of power, being the last point of appeal for all sorts of things. For instance, when we sent in our official complaint about the Union's reactions to the die-in, about the behaviour of, among others, Steve Savage, we sent it to... Steve Savage. And Steve wields his power like a sword--or a knife in the back. See last entry. Anyway, as the Senior Elections Officer, he interpreted the widely-interpretable election rules such that we very nearly got disqualified for handing out fliers for multiple candidates simultaneously (an action which was interpreted as 'allowed' by these very same rules in yesterday's election). We didn't get disqualified, though, and of the 11 allies, 10 of us won our positions.
( Six months of trying and failing )
By this point it had become abundantly clear that the only way we were going to effect any kind of change in the Students' Association was to hold the positions of real power. Fortunately for the mythical 'us', Harry was already intending to run for DoR, and James for Accommodation Officer in the March elections, which are the bigger and more important of the two election diets (though these have just been reformed into one, in the same position-cutting motion described above). Spurred on by disempowerment, several others put in nominations for other positions. We all lost.*** Not all of us, technically--some were uncontested--but everyone running for a position with an opponent lost to that person.
To be honest, although I'm disappointed for my friends' losses, in my own case I'm a little relieved. I was doubtful that, even given sweeping victories in positions of Real PowerTM, we'd actually be able to change things for the better. To have that genuinely democratic, horizontally-empowering Students' Association we're all yearning for. I don't think there's anything for us in working within The System, because The System always has more ways of parrying, turning away, and outright ignoring attempts to change it from within. And I'm not sure that I could deal with that kind of frustration for a whole 'nother year. Fuck 'em.
*There is no 'us'. This may have been part of the problem. Whether because there wasn't, really, or because there was a perception that there was, I'm not sure, but I'm certain that the disconnect between notions of 'solidarity' and actual unity played a big role in 'our' eventual breakdown.
**Dwindled generally, that is, not just among "us". Disaffection, disempowerment and disillusionment were wide-spread.
***Kinda makes the cheesy movie-reference of my last entry's title seem oddly prescient, eh? Fuck. At least no one's been shot (political assassinations aside).
( Six months of trying and failing )
By this point it had become abundantly clear that the only way we were going to effect any kind of change in the Students' Association was to hold the positions of real power. Fortunately for the mythical 'us', Harry was already intending to run for DoR, and James for Accommodation Officer in the March elections, which are the bigger and more important of the two election diets (though these have just been reformed into one, in the same position-cutting motion described above). Spurred on by disempowerment, several others put in nominations for other positions. We all lost.*** Not all of us, technically--some were uncontested--but everyone running for a position with an opponent lost to that person.
To be honest, although I'm disappointed for my friends' losses, in my own case I'm a little relieved. I was doubtful that, even given sweeping victories in positions of Real PowerTM, we'd actually be able to change things for the better. To have that genuinely democratic, horizontally-empowering Students' Association we're all yearning for. I don't think there's anything for us in working within The System, because The System always has more ways of parrying, turning away, and outright ignoring attempts to change it from within. And I'm not sure that I could deal with that kind of frustration for a whole 'nother year. Fuck 'em.
*There is no 'us'. This may have been part of the problem. Whether because there wasn't, really, or because there was a perception that there was, I'm not sure, but I'm certain that the disconnect between notions of 'solidarity' and actual unity played a big role in 'our' eventual breakdown.
**Dwindled generally, that is, not just among "us". Disaffection, disempowerment and disillusionment were wide-spread.
***Kinda makes the cheesy movie-reference of my last entry's title seem oddly prescient, eh? Fuck. At least no one's been shot (political assassinations aside).
