Our COMMON VALUES are:1) AUTONOMY - freedom from the coercive influence of any over-arching, hierarchical decision-making process or organisation, whether they are state institutions or left-wing organisations that work using hierarchical structures. We feel these structures lend themselves more to manipulation from a few people with power than an open, direct-democratic process.
2) ANTI-CAPITALISM - a critique of and action against the existing economic system. Many students groups are not explicitly anti-capitalist, but we feel this is essential to the success of struggle.
3) DIRECT ACTION - a strategic outlook based on tackling our problems at
Source, from the bottom up, which enables us to directly create alternatives to capitalism ourselves. This is why we choose to work on issues directly affecting us at our colleges, because we can have a real effect on these, which in turn have knock-on effects for people elsewhere.
AUTONOMOUS STUDENT NETWORK STATEMENT OF UNITY
1)We reject the capitalist system and the structures that defend it – in particular, the state apparatus.
2)We reject and challenge all forms of oppression, including – but not limited to – heterosexism, racism and disablism.
3)We reject hierarchical organisation and the concentration of power in the hands of the few; we are committed to grassroots organisational methods that allow individuals autonomy within the network.
4)We advocate the abolition, rather than the mere reform, of capitalism and hierarchical structures.
5)We advocate revolutionary means to achieve a world based on equality, sustainability, and freedom.
So this was all from previous ASN literature - I think we can probably do much better. This thread is intended for general discussion of what we think our common principles and aims might be, and then maybe we can use that to decide upon a better draft of the above, or something entirely different at a future meeting?
a while ago on libcom we put together a sample set of basic principles for revolutionary organisation. There might be some stuff there which could contribute to your discussions:
http://libcom.org/library/basic-principles-revolutionary-organisation