PREAMBLE

Class Wargames is an avant-garde movement of artists, activists, and theoreticians engaged in the production of works of ludic subversion in the bureaucratic society of controlled consumption.

1. MEMBERSHIP

The members of Class Wargames are those who:

  • Play Guy Debord’s The Game of War and other socio-political games;
  • Organise Class Wargames events, exhibitions and performances;
  • Participate in the creative activities of Class Wargames such as making films, producing publications and devising games;
  • Administer the Class Wargames organisation;
  • Take part in the formulation of Class Wargames policies;
  • Contribute to Class Wargames in other significant ways.

The membership of Class Wargames is divided into full members, hereafter called “activists”, and associate members.

Activists have the right to vote in Class Wargames meetings and participate in all aspects of its internal organisation.

Associate members do not have the right to vote in Class Wargames meetings and can only participate in those aspects of its internal organisation determined by the Executive Committee, subject to confirmation by the General Meeting where necessary.

Any activist can nominate someone to become an associate member of Class Wargames. Associate members will prove their fitness to become an activist by participating within the work of Class Wargames under the supervision of the Executive Committee.

Once an associate member has proved their suitability for full membership, the Executive Committee can admit them as an activist of Class Wargames. Any dispute over whether a particular person should become an activist should be referred to the next General Meeting, which can make an overriding decision.

2. DECISION MAKING

The supreme policy making body of Class Wargames is the General Meeting, convened annually and attended by all activists.

The Executive Committee is responsible for the practical and theoretical preparations for General Meeting. All significant administrative and policy issues should be debated at the General Meeting.

The General Meeting elects an Executive Committee which shall consist of no less than five members and no more than fifteen members. The Executive Committee’s members must be activists of Class Wargames. The Executive Committee may delegate responsibility to various officers and work groups (see section 3 below). All these officers and work groups have the right to make binding decisions for Class Wargames activity. They must be accountable to the Executive Committee that formed them, and governed by the prior decisions of the General Meeting. Each work group decides its own rules of functioning, within the framework set by the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee may call an extraordinary General Meeting whenever it wishes. The Executive Committee must call an extraordinary General Meeting within at most two months of receiving a written demand for one signed by at least 25 per cent of the activists of Class Wargames.

Every activist or group of activists can submit resolutions and amendments to the General Meeting or to the Executive Committee, and have the right to speaking time and participation in the debate on them.

Democracy is impossible without full and timely information. The Executive Committee must distribute minutes of its meetings and of the General Meeting to all activists. Where possible, the proceedings of decision-making bodies should be recorded and made available to all activists on the Class Wargames website.

3. WORK GROUPS

The activists and associate members of Class Wargames shall be organised in work groups. The Executive Committee shall recognise, and where appropriate strive to initiate, work groups in consultation with the members concerned. Every activist must be a member of one or more appropriate work groups.

The founding work groups of Class Wargames are:

  • administration and finance;
  • events;
  • game development;
  • videos;
  • xenography;
  • publications;
  • website.

The work groups are responsible for co-ordinating the activities of Class Wargames in their areas.

Each work group shall elect an organiser and other officers who must be activists of Class Wargames. The organiser is subject to the administrative supervision of the Executive Committee. Each work group should strive to implement the principles of the policy commissions relevant to their own area of work.

Each work group should meet regularly to discuss and organise their contribution to Class Wargames activities. The organiser is responsible for convening meetings.

Decisions on matters specific to their area shall be made democratically by work groups. Each work group can be overruled in such matters by the Executive Committee, or the General Meeting, in which case representatives of all viewpoints have the right to put their case to the overruling body. Work group organisers must report regularly to the Executive Committee, and this must include communicating all the opinions within the work group different from the organiser’s own opinion.

In any Class Wargames activity, the right to take decisions and give instructions on the spot belongs normally to the work group organiser responsible, or other member delegated to be responsible. In the event of an important issue needing an immediate decision, the organiser can be overruled by the senior Executive Committee member(s) present. The Executive Committee have the right in extreme cases, and after written notice and a fair hearing, to remove work group organisers from their posts and impose replacements. Such decisions will be subject to confirmation by the next General Meeting where necessary.

4. CLASS WARGAMES WEBSITE

The Executive Committee is responsible for producing the Class Wargames website in conjunction with the website work group.

The website should record and promote the activities of Class Wargames and its members.

The Executive Committee in conjunction with the website work group will determine the editorial policy of the Class Wargames website; and decide which of its facilities should be open to the public and which are to be made only available to activists and/or associate members.

The editorial and organisational decisions of the Executive Committee and the website work group shall be accountable to the General Meeting.

5. DISPUTES COMMITTEE

The General Meeting will elect a Disputes Committee consisting of three people who must be activists of Class Wargames. If there are 100 or less activists of Class Wargames, they can be members of the Executive Committee. If there are more than 100 activists of Class Wargames, they cannot serve on the Executive Committee.

The role of the Disputes Committee will be:

  • To investigate and adjudicate in disputes between activists of Class Wargames where such a dispute has a bearing on their own or the organisation’s functioning, at the request of one of the parties to the dispute;
  • To receive and investigate complaints against policy commissions, work groups or officers of Class Wargames on any matter of concern to any activist of Class Wargames;
  • To present a report on any such investigation to the Executive Committee and, if it chooses, to present proposals and recommendations for action to the Executive Committee. Any proposal or recommendation from the Disputes Committee to the Executive Committee will be deemed to have a very strong moral authority. Where the Disputes Committee comes into irresolvable conflict with the Executive Committee on some matter which it considers of fundamental importance, it will have the right to call an extraordinary General Meeting;
  • To censure, where it thinks fit, after proper investigation, any action of any policy commission, work group, officer or activist of Class Wargames and present motions of censure to the Executive Committee;
  • To publish, where it thinks fit, its decisions on the Class Wargames website;
  • To present a report of its activities over the previous year to each General Meeting.

6. DISCIPLINE

Where activists have failed to meet their commitments to Class Wargames without adequate cause such as illness, and there is no dispute about this fact, the Executive Committee in consultation with the appropriate work groups can decide to move them from being an activist to associate membership. The Executive Committee must give to two or more week’s written notice to delinquent activists before their membership status is changed. Anyone who alleges invalid moving from activist to associate membership may appeal to the Disputes Committee and to the next General Meeting.

The Executive Committee in consultation with the appropriate policy commissions and work groups may suspend or expel activists and associate members, in the event of:

  • Action contrary to the fundamental principles of Class Wargames, e.g. corruption, racism, etc.;
  • Serious disruption of the Class Wargames’ functioning.

No activist or associate member may be subject to disciplinary action solely on grounds of their artistic, theoretical or political views, as long as they remain loyal to Class Wargames’ basic aims. Activists and associate members must not use such differences as an excuse for disruption. Any activist or associate member who does so is liable to be suspended or expelled.

The Executive Committee must circulate the material relating to the appeals of any activist or associate member against suspension or expulsion to all activists at least 14 days before the General Meeting where possible.

Previously expelled activists or associate members may not be readmitted without the approval of the Executive Committee or by the General Meeting.

7. FULL-TIMERS

The appointment, pay, terms of reference, and dismissal of Class Wargames full-time workers shall be decided by the Executive Committee, subject to ratification by the next General Meeting. All full-time workers must be activists of Class Wargames. In the event of a dispute that must be resolved by the General Meeting, the Executive Committee’s decision will not come into operation until endorsed by the General Meeting.

8. CONSTITUTION

The constitution of Class Wargames will be published on the Class Wargames website. The Executive Committee will rule on any disputes about the interpretation of the constitution subject to ratification at the next General Meeting. The constitution can only be changed by a two-thirds majority of the activists present at the General Meeting.