Unconventional Action
Encyclopedia
Unconventional Action is an anarchist and anti-authoritarian
organization formed in the United States
with the purposes of engaging in direct action
in opposition to the 2008 Democratic and Republican
National Conventions. It was structured as an emerging network
. Police documents alleging to be based on informants' information claimed that the organization hosted with the RNC Welcoming Committee
an "action camp" from July 31-Aug. 3, 2008, at Lake Geneva
in Minnesota
, which was attended by approximately 50 individuals. According to one of the informants, a raised platform stage labeled "Xcel Center" was the primary target of the training.
Ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado
, Unconventional Action members had their cars searched by police near their convention centre. In Denver, Unconventional Action manifested itself under the umbrella group Recreate68 as Unconventional Denver, "a local coordinating group for a national network of anarchists that [was] planning to disrupt the convention", in the words of the New American.
Unconventional Denver organized several events throughout the week, including a Reclaim the Streets action http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/918, an Anti-Capitalist March http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/rollingthunder/rncdncdocs.php#doc2 and Green Capitalism Education Walk. The group worked with the Iraq Veterans Against War by providing communications support. UD also set up a convergence space open to any progressive and radical activists in town for the DNC protests.
Unconventional Action were supported by CrimethInc.
groups, who distributed the organizations plans ahead of the conventions.
Anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil...
organization formed in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with the purposes of engaging in direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
in opposition to the 2008 Democratic and Republican
2008 Republican National Convention
The United States 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008...
National Conventions. It was structured as an emerging network
Emergence
In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems....
. Police documents alleging to be based on informants' information claimed that the organization hosted with the RNC Welcoming Committee
RNC Welcoming Committee
The RNC Welcoming Committee was an anarchist group based in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota that coordinated and facilitated discussion for the protests against the 2008 Republican National Convention...
an "action camp" from July 31-Aug. 3, 2008, at Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, which was attended by approximately 50 individuals. According to one of the informants, a raised platform stage labeled "Xcel Center" was the primary target of the training.
Ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Unconventional Action members had their cars searched by police near their convention centre. In Denver, Unconventional Action manifested itself under the umbrella group Recreate68 as Unconventional Denver, "a local coordinating group for a national network of anarchists that [was] planning to disrupt the convention", in the words of the New American.
Unconventional Denver organized several events throughout the week, including a Reclaim the Streets action http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/918, an Anti-Capitalist March http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/rollingthunder/rncdncdocs.php#doc2 and Green Capitalism Education Walk. The group worked with the Iraq Veterans Against War by providing communications support. UD also set up a convergence space open to any progressive and radical activists in town for the DNC protests.
Unconventional Action were supported by CrimethInc.
CrimethInc.
CrimethInc., also known as CWC , is a decentralized anarchist collective of autonomous cells. CrimethInc. emerged in the mid-1990s, initially as the hardcore zine Inside Front, and began operating as a collective in 1996...
groups, who distributed the organizations plans ahead of the conventions.