Agitprop, Part 7b
Speakers’
Corner, Hyde Park, London, date unknown
'Soap Box' Oratory
There is a great tradition of
open-air oratory in the working-class movement. Wal Hannington gives it a lot
of attention under the heading “Street Corner Meeting”. Such open-air meetings
can also take place at factory gates, at suitable times.
This tradition can also be
seen among the religious people and in the bible stories of the prophets and the
New Testament stories of John the Baptist, Jesus and St Paul, for some
examples.
Lenin, too was known to be an
open-air speaker to impromptu crowds, and there are films of him doing so.
“Soap Box” oratory is a great
way to learn how to communicate with the people en masse (“in their masses”). Speaking in public is an art, and
like any other art it requires many hours of practice to make it approach
anything like perfection.
This kind of interaction with
people, including strangers, also breeds confidence in, and love of the people.
It is part of the “legalisation” of our organisations, including the communist
party. Putting yourselves in front of the people and interacting with them
means that they, too, can no longer regard you as strangers. Nor do they have
to rely on the bourgeois mass media for news of you or for an explanation of
what you are.
Agitprop and Induction
There is an overlap between
Induction and Agitprop.
We have made two separate
courses, with perhaps a tacit understanding that Induction is the internal
business of our structures, while Agitprop is for consumption by people who are
outside.
This is not the case. In
fact, Agitprop is as much for “internal” consumption as it is for those who may
not yet be organised, while Induction requires Agitprop. One can even say that
Induction is a process of Agitprop with the end result being the generation of
cadres of the Party and of the Movement.
The overlap between Agitprop
and Induction is particularly apparent in this part of our Agitprop course. In
the end, what we are learning in both cases is how to be cadres, or what are
sometimes called “tribunes of the people”. It is about communicating.
Speakers’ Corner
The illustration shows the
Speakers’ Corner in London, which is an expanse of grass in Hyde Park near the
Marble Arch, where all kinds of speakers gather at suitable times to address
the passers-by. There is another place in London on Tower Hill where this
tradition of open-air speaking used to be carried, and maybe still is.
·
The above is to
introduce part of our reading-text: Marches,
Seminars, Public Meetings, and Soap Box Oratory.
