I had another look over this discussion thread following a more recent brief encounter with my local Plan C group and picking up a copy of a newly launched 'unofficial' Plan C network magazine called 'bamn' which includes a contribution in familiar style from 'The Free Association'. Skipping over some of the chit-chat about past problems associated with the historical 'Class War group' and the 'libcom style' etc I thought there were still some useful comments in the thread here that at least opened up a number of important areas of discussion still worth pursuing and generally no less confused than some of the 'face-to-face' group discussions that I've attended.
Whilst I have been critical of much of the political content of some other recent Manchester Plan C discussion forums (see: http://libcom.org/library/capitalist-realism-renewed) I still see some value in their attempt to open up discussion, with at least the potential for co-operation, amongst a wider network of communist inspired 'activists'. No sure what to make of the first issue of 'bamn' which isn't really my style but there is room for more approaches than in the usual political group publications. Elsewhere some discussion between individuals in groups such as Plan C, AWW, Mouvement Communiste, Feminist Fightback, IWW and others not in any formal groups seems to be a welcome move in the right direction which could perhaps be more fruitful than some earlier initiatives.
Zero
Yep, Free Association-ers are involved in the Plan C process ("group" is probably still too strong a word), along with other folk in Leeds, Manchester and London.
For me, the initiative came out of two things: a widespread dissatisfaction with all existing forms of organisation, but also a recognition that autonomist-inspired politics (loosely defined) have been making sense to more and more people.
The easy answer would be to leap into setting up a new Organisation (with a platform or aims & principles etc). For obvious reasons we're trying not to do that. Our progress still feels a little halting (tentative, experimental, messy) but I think things are slowly starting to take shape.
Others involved may tell a different story