WSM publications policy document

A collectively agreed document on WSM publications as drawn up by National Conference. Amended Autumn 2009.

Our publications

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1. Since our foundation the WSM has placed a very high priority on our publications. These are our public voice, they are means by which many people will make their first contact with the organization. Quality, design and content are therefore, extremely important

2. We will produce a range of publications each of which is tailored to best suit a particular need. In addition the text of all WSM publications will be available on the WSM web page and posted to the Ainriail mailing list.

3. All national publications will have an editorial group that is elected by national conference. There should be at least one woman on the committee of Workers Solidarity, Red and Black Revolution committee and the Pamphlet committee (in circumstances where a women is willing to take become a committee member). National conference will set general guidelines for this group to follow which will include key areas to cover, the general balance of articles required in the publication and an annual budget for the publication. In between national conferences the editorial groups are answerable to Delegate Council.

4. Each editorial group will have the following responsibilities, these in general include all aspects of publication from the commissioning of articles to the arrival of the material back from the printer and further distribution of it.
a) ensure that the publication is produced according to deadline, this includes the writing of additional material by the editorial group itself if this is required to make the deadline.
b) ensure that the publication is in agreement with the requirements set by national conference and listed at the foot of this position paper.
c) ensure that articles are within the agreed WSM policy or they are clearly marked as the work of a guest writer or part of a debate.
d) ensure that articles are proof read and free of typographical mistakes
e) arrange the layout, delivery of print ready material and collection of finished material from the printers. In general this should all be carried out by a member of the editorial group or where this is not possible by the co-option as a 'non-voting' member of the group by someone with the required skills.
f) distribute the publication to those responsible for its public distribution
g) encourage all members to submit articles for publication and offer help to new members in particular to prepare articles for publication. For the first two or three articles any new member submits a member of the editorial committee should provide detailed feedback to them on the editing of their article, where possible they should attend the meeting at which the editing takes place.
h) ensure that articles are posted to the WSM website
I) solicit feedback and opinions on both the design and content of their publications from each branch before and after completing each issue.
j) as of our October 2008 conference each editorial group will launch an organisation wide enquiry into how members relate to the WSM's publications. This enquiry will engage with the following themes;
1. Do our members feel that our publications reflect their politics?
2. Do our publications have the social resonance required to contribute to building radical anti-capitalist critique and encouraging the growth of anti-authoritarian and socialist tendencies in society?
3. Are there in existence alternative methodologies for delivering our ideas to those areas we wish to intervene in?

They will submit a written report of the results of their inquiry to delegate council in April 09

Editorial boards that fail to fulfil all the criteria above should be recalled and replaced at the first opportunity.

5.1 Where significant changes in the meaning of an article are being made, the editorial committee should attempt to contact the author to explain them and solicit feedback. If the author is not agreeable to the changes or cannot be contacted, then the editorial committee may publish the changed article under an editorial pseudonym or may decide to drop the article.

5.2 The editors may make changes to improve the language, coherence, and overall clarity of an article without recourse to the writer but should explain their reasoning if requested to do so.

6. The organisation raise the profile of women by either including articles written by or about women in our publications and/or including graphics which depict women in struggle

7. Specific publications

7.1 Ideas and Action is a free theoretical newspaper aimed at people with some experience of contemporary radical social movements and anti-capitalist critique. It's aim is to provide a political focus or point of identification for layers at home and abroad that agree with aspects of our politics, to develop theoretical discussion among these sectors and to provoke debate and exchange within our movements. It will be distributed for free as a printed intervention at the points or hubs where people gather to consume and discuss politics and movement activity.

7.2 Workers Solidarity is a free/donation news sheet aimed at people that have little or no detailed knowledge of anarchism. Its primary purposes is to bring people into contact with the WSM, give an anarchist perspective on current issues, introduce people to the basics of anarchist theory and history and to act as a focus for WSM local and issue related organising.

7.3. Workers Solidarity Pamphlets are aimed at providing substantial anarchist analysis of specific historical, theoretical and practical issues.

7.4 When the WSM publishes a pamphlet, each branch will order and pay for a minimum of three copies per member (.e.g. if a branch has eleven members it will buy at least thirty three copies). These can then be distributed through sales to contacts, at street stalls, public meetings, etc.

8. 8. All WSM publications will be supplied in text and PDF to the WSM web site by the person delegated to do the layout. ALL publications will be supplied as soon as they are laid out and can be published before the printed version returns from the printer.

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Short term perspectives

S1.1 At least 6 Workers Solidarity will be produced each year. The print run can vary between 4,000 and 100,000 according to what opportunities the editorial collective thinks will exist for the distribution of each issue. The editorial committee should post any change in the print run to the internal site.

S1.2 Delegate Council is authorised to regulate the frequency of Workers Solidarity, it can decide to move to a monthly or fortnightly publication if it deems it appropriate.

S1.3 The editorial committee may increase the frequency to 8 issues without recourse to D.C.

S1.4 Delegate Council may alter the composition of the editorial committee in between conferences.

S1.5 The editorial committee may allocate responsibilities for the production of WS amongst themselves.

S1.6 Each branch will inform Delegate Council of the minimum number of each issue it wants to regularly receive.

S1.7 Any decision by Delegate Council regarding frequency of print run and publication, composition of the committee, and its allocation of responsibilities takes precedence over the views of the editorial committee.

S2. Each branch will give a commitment to identify a number of places where communities of political interest, activists, and social movement actors congregate. Each branch will give a commitment to developing these sites as hubs for the distribution of Ideas & Action. Each branch will give a commitment to identifying individuals and groups they campaign with that can act as distributors of Ideas & Action.[Oct 2008]

S3. All WSM publications (papers, magazines, leaflets, posters, pamphlets, etc.) will carry the classic WSM logo as updated to the contemporary city scape shown at conference, postal address and URL. [Oct 2008]

S4. The WSM raise the profile of women by always having an article on women in our publications. They can be “women and” type articles which look at how women experience oppression under capitalism. More importantly there should be articles that highlight the often-invisible work done by women. The aim is to provide a role-model; presenting being an activist or a revolutionary something as ‘normal’ if you are women. We should interviews (because they are accessible and personal) as well as ordinary articles.
All members should write a portion of the articles. [DC Jan 2006]

S5 We must do all we can to spread knowledge of and support for anarchism. This can never be downplayed in importance. Our small size stops currently us being an 'agitational' organisation (i.e. bringing a few ideas to many people as an introduction to our wider politics). We can, however, bring many ideas to a few people - and that is our primary task at this stage.

Workers Solidarity will continue to be a paper whose primary purpose is to bring our politics to people who have have had little or no contact with the 'left'. As such it will continue to carry features on anarchism, in-depth analysis of strikes and campaigns, world anarchist news, "thinking about anarchism", etc.

Workers Solidarity is our public voice. Its brief is to explain anarchism, make it relevant to people's immediate concerns, make suggestions for taking struggles forward, let others know of examples of self-activity, analyse campaigns. It is very important, a vital part of our activity.

Workers Solidarity should continue to be distributed at union meetings, political meetings, protests and bookshops. Each member should also deliver Workers Solidarity door-to-door in their locality. These contacts can also be offered pamphlets, invited to public meetings and events, and encouraged to find out more about anarchism*

• The contents of Workers Solidarity should continue to be discussed from time to time at branch meetings.
• We want to produce a wide range of pamphlets. These are important in widening the interest and appeal of our ideas. We should take up modern issues as well as uncovering aspects of our history.
• While branch meetings are ordinarily every week, in general we want to steer clear of the situation where branch meetings become the main political activity of members - they are the basic organisation of the WSM, not its reason for existence.
  
• At least half of our branch meetings should be open to sympathisers where it is felt these people are interested in our anarchist politics

(July 2004 - moved from Our perpectives Aug 2008)

S6. POSTERS AND STICKERS: THE SILENT AGITATORS
The WSM recognises that poster art has always played apart in communicating radical political ideas. Currently in Dublin and elsewhere there are laws prohibiting and limiting the scope political posters. WSM, whilst deciding when and how to challenge this repression of political ideas and privitisation of public space and dialogue, will use other avenues available to us to design, distribute and place posters, stickers etc.

We commit to printing 6 generic politically themed posters each year, and a similar or larger number of themed stickers both of which we will make available for distribution to our supporters for use as they see fit. Poster designs and print runs will be passed at DC. [Oct 2008]

S7. IDEAS AND ACTION.
a. The WSM recognises that no where on the revolutionary left in Ireland does there exist a theoretical journal that gives expression to the needs, desires and critiques needed to build a truly contemporary revolutionary movement.
b. This recognition brings with it a large responsibility. While we certainly don't have all the answers, we do have some. With that in mind, we want to develop these and bring them to as many interested parties as possible.
c. The WSM now aims to move from a position where a significant majority of our theoretical journal stay undistributed and dont reach the various 'hubs' of libertarian and social\workplace movement activity and discussion, to a position of ensuring we have a co ordinated delivery of this journal to such 'hubs' or points, be they international gatherings, infoshops, cafes, camps, marches, union meetings etc.
d. The impact of good political literature is at a maximum when people get to talk and share their own reaction to materials, and this is very hard, if not impossible to achieve with our current model of distribution, based as it is on individual and quite limited sales.
e. Putting more emphasis on increasing sales will lessen the burden of publication costs, but does not address making our publications more effective in its aims, ie generating discourse and action within both the wider working class and the existing anarchist, and movement milieu.
f. While recognizing the work and effort of all Red and Black editorial staff past and present, we feel that as an organisation we need to take a large step forward in getting a hearing for our ideas.
g. To facilitate this we propose killing Red and Black Revolution and that a new journal called 'Ideas and Action' take its place in the format of a free newspaper, printed in 5,000 copies.
h. The role and purpose of this new journal:
i)The journal should be given some direction by the branches of the WSM by taking on board larger themes and topics that they would like to see covered in depth and fleshed out with research.
ii)The journal editorial staff will liaise with the education officers of individual branches to organise relevant education/discussions of articles that are in conception or finished.
iii) Facilitate debate between activists, anarchists within the broader libertarian, various social movement milieus and the wider left.
iv) To document those particular aspects of contemporary struggle that will have bearing on how future revolutionary movements move forward.
v) This new publication recognizes that to over come the weaknesses of present anarchist theory we need to exchange with the best libertarian impulses of traditions other that our own.
vi) Recognizing a theoretical and research weakness within our organization, the editorial staff can solicit articles from people other than our members in order to add more flesh to our politics and engage fellow travellers with our work.
i. Recognizing that one of the chief aims of the journal is to develop movement debate and discussion, the editorial staff will organize a launch event with writers delivering their pieces and a social occurring after.
j. The editorial staff of the journal will equally commit to encouraging distributers at home and abroad to organise similar launch events and discussion groups to each new issues as a point to engage our contacts.
k. The editorial staff will identify potential distributors of Ideas & Action on an international level and approach such collectives and organizations with a proposal for a literature swap, both to develop the diversity of the literature we have available for distribution and to encourage an international reach for our politics.
The Editorial committee will submit a written report on
i) Trends in publishing
ii) Distribution points
iii) Time table for production of Ideas & Action (including estimates of costs of production) to the delegate council in April 09.

S8. The Editorial committee of Workers Solidarity may remove inactive groups or campaigns from the ‘Contacts’ column from future issues.

S9. WORKERS SOLIDARITY commit to forming a working group made up of at least 4 comrades whose work shall be to produce a monthly radio show which shall concentrate on the major struggles of the day, and will attempt to educate and illuminate the listeners on the ideas and spirit of anarchism.

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Amended November 2009