Plenary - definition and a little bit of interesting history!

In the lead up to the G8 protests "all decisions and media statements, prior to publication, had to be passed at a plenary meeting of a Dissent! gathering for approval". However, we, the Green Wash authors, found the use of the word plenary as a meeting title for a group of anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian anarchists just a bit odd and thought we ought to explain why.

Plenary - Definition:

"A plenary meeting is one at which all the members of a group or organisation are present, especially at a conference."

Campaign groups, corporate, voluntary and government organisations that have named some of their decision-making meetings 'plenary' include:

• United Nations

• The World Bank

• The World Economic Forum

• NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

• IMF - International Monetary Fund

• Global Forum

• The Bilderberg Group

• G8 - Group of Eight

• OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism

• Council of Europe

• European Union

• National Assembly for Wales

• The Tavistock Institute

• Freemasons

• G8 Gleneagles Protest Group Dissent!

• Climate Camp

• Reclaim the Power

Plenary - A little bit of history:

In November 1095 at the Council of Clermont in southern France, Pope Urban II called on western Christians to provide assistance to the Byzantines in order to recapture the Holy Land which, by this time, was under middle-eastern Muslim control. This call to arms marked the beginning of the crusades and it was here that Pope Urban II granted the first plenary, or full indulgence to all those who had died whilst fighting, or who were intending to fight.

Indulgences began to be used to raise not only an army for the Catholic Church but also vast amounts of revenue and, with this increased use, came a dramatic escalation in the power of the Medieval papacy.

However, it was not until a century after Pope Urban II's use of the word indulgences to start a holy war a religious belief became attached to the meaning. The fact that granting plenary indulgences came prior to the development of religious indulgences gave rise to the theory they had become necessary for reasons unrelated to religion.

According to the Catholic Church, a plenary indulgence was the complete remission of penance for 'sin' with no service or exchange required. All the penitent had to do was make their confession in order to receive a grant of remission from the Pope.

The granting of plenary indulgences had a two-fold benefit. It permitted the Catholic Church to establish a 'holier-than-thou' superiority over 'heathen' powers whilst at the same time clearly reinforcing it's own hierarchical structure, headed up, of course, by the Pope. Put simply, because of the widely held belief the church was unquestionable, and, having developed the practice of granting indulgences for criminal reasons, the church had to provide the religious doctrine to support this practice.

Granting an indulgence could not be performed by all clergy and plenary indulgences could only be granted by the Pope. However, abuses of indulgence grants and the unrestricted sale of indulgences by 'pardoners' became widely abused, and what had once dramatically increased the power of the Church led eventually, to the Protestant reformation and the dissolution of universal Catholicism.

But how does all this relate to an anarchist protest?

First you have to give a deep meaning, an almost cult-like religious status, to what you are protesting against, a good example of this in today's era would be climate change. Once your doctrine is established recruiting members becomes your priority. Hijacking existing protests with similar ideals to your campaign is a great way to start as you are 'preaching to the converted'. Through a sustained system of hierarchical control you are able to generate the power and finances to maintain your brand. All energy and focus, diverted away from the original grass-roots protests, is absorbed into a larger agenda. In several unseen manoeuvres, the protests are with ruthless efficiency wiped-out.

In return for your loyalty you don't get a guaranteed entry into heaven but you do get a clear conscience, you have done your bit to save the world.

This pattern of dictating the narrative, so effectively used by Pope Urban II, has been emulated, and ultimately refined. In British protest movements we have identified a distinct pattern that started with G8, was transferred to Climate Camp then onto Occupy, Reclaim the Power and ultimately perfected by those who lead Extinction Rebellion.

No wonder they called them Plenary Meetings!