Organise Aotearoa (founded 2018) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

organisation who describes itself as a movement "for liberation and socialism." With an extra-parliamentary focus and a membership composed of various prison-abolitionist, anti-imperialist and anti-poverty activists. Shortly after its launch, the organisation engaged in a series of

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

campaigns, including joining the blockade of New Zealand Defence Industry Association forums, occupying the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian embassy after the inauguration of

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

, occupying the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

consulate in Auckland during the 2019 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, and joining the occupation of

Ihumātao Ihumātao is an archeological site of historic importance in the suburb of Māngere, Auckland. Once a pā site, it stands on the Ihumātao Peninsula, at the base of Ōtuataua, part of the Auckland volcanic field. Its scoria cone reaches above ...

. The group has also organised broader mobilisations such as the 2018 protests agitating for abortion reform.

Principles and policies

Organise Aotearoa describes itself as "a new movement for liberation and socialism". In a statement of principles released on 1 October 2018, the organisation's policies were stated to be: * Constitutional transformation, including

decolonisation Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

through the concepts of

Tino Rangatiratanga ' is a Māori language term that translates literally to 'highest chieftainship' or 'unqualified chieftainship', but is also translated as "self-determination", "sovereignty" and "absolute sovereignty". The very translation of is important to ...

, Tikanga and

Mana motuhake Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori people, Māori political party in New Zealand from 1980 to 2005. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — , in this context, can ...

; * Socialist revolution in order to abolish

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and establish

workplace democracy Workplace democracy is the application of democracy in various forms (examples include voting systems, debates, democratic structuring, due process, adversarial process, systems of appeal) to the workplace. It can be implemented in a variety of ...

; *

Environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

through the abolition of corporate agency; * Implementation of

policies and ending

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

control of the State; * Ending

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

racialisation In sociology, racialization or ethnicization is a political process of ascribing Ethnic group, ethnic or Race (human classification), racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such. Racializati ...

in New Zealand prisons and

ableism Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with Disability, disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableis ...

; *

Direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

; *

Anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

; * Implementation of policy through

History

Formation

Organise Aotearoa was first formed around Sue Bradford's ''Economic and Social Research Aotearoa (ESRA)'' think tank in 2016 and later expanded to include activists from ''People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA)'', the Peace Action Movement and ''Auckland Action Against Poverty''. The organisation also included Marxist-Leninists at the time of its public announcement. As of October 2019, the organisation claimed to have over 140 active members with branches in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Direct action protests

Organise Aotearoa has received media coverage in

and

for their

interventions on several issues. Most notable among these was the occupation of the Brazilian embassy in

to protest the inauguration of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

president

. Occupiers displayed the slogan "No relations with fascist nations," and news of the occupation was widely shared by both left-wing and right-wing Brazilian media, including Carlos Bolsonaro, eventually going viral across the country. The subsequent backlash from the Brazilian right resulted in "thousands of homophobic insults, death threats, and rape threats

hat were A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

sent to OA's supporters and members." The group blockaded the New Zealand Defence Industry Association forum, or "Weapons Expo", in conjunction with the Peace Action Movement and

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

locals. The 2018 blockade was considered successful by organisers, and resulted in arms industry delegates failing to attend the forum, as well as several arrests. In February 2019, the organisation occupied the US Auckland consulate, and as of June 2019, has members involved in the indigenous land occupation at

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{New Zealand political parties Socialist parties in New Zealand Political parties established in 2016 2016 establishments in New Zealand