UN RENOUVEAU DE LA PARTICIPATION ASSOCIATIVE ? L'engagement et le militantisme au sein du comité Attac Isère

2.2.2.2.2 Which mode of protest ?

The militants isérois did not know how to react at the time of the Summit of Nice. Thomas explains that it did not know which reaction to adopt when anarchists infiltrated the Attac procession. The difficulties encountered by the committee isérois at the time of the against-top of Nice translate according to Cécile and François the lack of organization of the militants. Cecile considers it regrettable that nobody had the reflex to give certain Security Councils to the people who came to express. This is explained, according to it, by the lack of experience of the militants. The most committed people within the committee have a trade-union experiment primarily. Among inquired which occupies of the responsibilities in association, Thomas is the only one to have a political past. He profits from an experiment of the collective action the other militants do not have^506(*). François also underlines that what is missing with the militants isérois, it is primarily an experiment and a reflection concerning the problem of violence. It states to have within its political party (the LCR) such a practice which enables him to adopt reactions appropriate vis-a-vis to violence.

Cecile : While Attac succeeded in making come from people who were not militant, which was never militant. And this it is in all the local groups. Blow you find yourself with tricks where people do not have the militant reflexes. Me I was irritated and yet I am nevertheless not old, therefore it is a little serious. I was irritated on tricks because me I had already a militant reflex. I at the head do not have an example. But on an action, the militant reflexes are important, if not that wants to say that you reproduce and sometimes you installations more questions. That makes it possible to have a certain effectiveness on certain tricks too. For example on Nice, I had been in a meeting of preparation; on the question of safety, I had intervened for saying that it was necessary to warn all the people who came to Nice, and how was going to happen safety. That was not done, but I had intervened on top. You see in fact tricks did not come to mind, because I had already lived of the situations like that and which did not come inevitably to mind from people whereas for me it was obvious.

François : There is a place as a political organization which is not contestable. There is a capacity of mobilization that Attac does not have. Attack can do something and to make come a great flood of people but it is precisely when the tide is a little unverifiable that that leaves in all the directions. It is well to have a political organization which has traditions of reflection on violence. One is not violent when one is in a situation and that one had reflections one will not assoira floor for example. One will organize a fold more easily. To organize a fold of militants it is the work of an association or a party which had a tradition and a past of service of order and discussions on how to protect itself. It is to organize its own protection [...] The procession of the League exploded forever in Nice. There were drapeauxAttac in all the processions because their procession with the first load scattered in all the directions. Then it is easy that us to attack on top and to treat us the paramilitary ones !

Luc : And was the following day, there the surrounding of the European top, one was found in front of the cops leaving a little everywhere, one did not know where to go, with our flag Attac and what one makes in front of the cops? What does one make? One waits. There were extremists with their red flag and that created a certain tension, because on their flag it was not only hammer and sickle, which does not shock me too much in oneself, although I find that it is a little obsolete. But in more there was the machine-gun on the flag. They came in the middle of us with their flags and they agitated them under the nose of the cops. I call me that of the provocation. Moreover, one was badly at ease because one could not what make. One was not with the Attac group but one was with people of Attac which were there. There were several Attac groups which were trotted a little everywhere, because there was no organization. It of had organized there nothing by the national, then if were to find itself under the same conditions to find themselves in front of the wall and to await that is not worth the blow.

What seems to us to be in question in the course of the against-tops, it is not so much the lack of organization of the militants who the maladjustment of the repertory of action of the demonstrators to the situation. The course of a mobilization can be used as illustration. It is about the demonstration which took place on July 20, 2001^507(*) in Genoa at the time of G8.

* ⁵⁰⁶ One can note, moreover, that the militants of the committee frequently turn to Thomas to solve the practical problems which are encountered daily (the constitution of a unit leaflet, the organization of displacements for a against-top).

* ⁵⁰⁷ Photographs being used as visual aids are located in appendices. We will refer to it regularly.