‘The Occupation is a Serious Matter’

Tuesday 30th November witnessed the second national day of action against education cuts. In Leeds, there was a march of around 500 to the city centre and back, followed by the flash occupation of the Ziff administrative building. The flash occupation brought to the fore tensions over the ‘control’ of the unfolding politics; Who gets to make decisions? Who is subject to these decisions? Who is accountable to who?

In the evening general meeting of the occupied Michael Sadler lecture theatre, a vote was carried by a depleted assembly banning ‘any activity that endangers the occupation’, and asserting the general assembly as the sovereign decision making body. As a result, all acts (regardless of their specificities) are now potentially subject to the ‘judicial’ scrutiny of the sovereign body. As one participant commented, there is little difference between this and a quasi-religious ‘defence of the motherland’.

For Federico Venturini, an Erasmus student involved in the occupation, this moment posed an insurmountable limit to his continued participation in the occupation. What follows is his public letter explaining his withdrawal from the process.

Read the open letter here:

http://reallyopenuniversity.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/the-occupation-is-a-serious-matter/