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APC member organisation May First Movement Technology has launched a new video produced through the Technology and Revolution Convergence project, which it describes as “an unprecedented movement-wide conversation about the intersection between the revolution we want and the technology we use (and must democratise).”
Between 2017 and 2019, the Technology and Revolution Convergence campaign brought together over 1,400 activists in 25 local and regional sessions held in the United States and Mexico. The process began with 16 convergences held in 2017 to foster open discussions about the role of technology in revolutionary change. A discussion guide was published to help organise the discussions, but final decisions on how to facilitate the conversations were left up to the organisers of each convergence.
While these open discussions identified hundreds of priorities, a number of themes consistently emerged:
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To assure a neutral internet.
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To oppose, restrain and ultimately eliminate intrusive government internet surveillance.
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To finally provide everyone full access to high-speed internet.
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To develop an internet that can be democratic, open and free of corporate pressure.
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To improve and deepen the collaboration between movement technologists and other movement activists and organisations.
In 2018 and 2019, the project organised five focused congresses to further develop and refine the themes that emerged from the convergences held in 2017. These congresses yielded eight points of unity:
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Provide everyone with full, free, high-speed, equitable access to the internet, independent of content.
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Build an internet that is democratic, community-centred and governed, open, decentralised, and free of corporate pressure and monopolies.
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Build a political technology campaign to oppose, restrain, and ultimately eliminate surveillance.
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Move technology to prioritise sustainability, community thriving, climate justice, and “many worlds are possible”.
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Seek out, build and embrace the potential of digital technologies to protect and advance our movements.
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Improve and deepen the collaboration and mutual education between movement technologists and other movement activists and organisations.
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Foster political consciousness about the centralisation of technology in movement work and the urgency of revolutionary movement-based technology.
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Expand the technology conversation beyond settler/colonial technology and thinking to be culturally relevant, intersectional and grounded in political education and historical context.
The new video lays out these eight points and is available here on the Technology and Revolution homepage for you to view, to download and to use any way you want. Show it to your organisation or community to open up a conversation about what it says. Let the project organisers know what you think. What else should be there? What doesn't make sense? Email alfredo@mayfirst.org with questions and opinions.
