As a revolutionary socialist organization, CORS is not only committed to fighting for a world without the forms of oppression which dominate our lives under capitalism, but ensuring that our organizational spaces are built to sustain a diverse working class.
We are committed to building an organization which allows no room for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia. We also aim to grow our organization on the basis of healthy internal practices and thus struggle against bullying, intimidation, harassment, cliquishness, and other toxic practices. We expect comradely behavior in all of our organizational spaces and take seriously any manifestation of oppression within them.
We recognize that leftist groups are not immune from the oppression that is baked into our system. In fact, all too often abusers and manipulators have utilized their identities as “leftists” to provide cover for oppressive behavior. In the pursuit of building an organization which genuinely acts as the “tribune of the oppressed” we will work to prevent and handle oppression within our organization and across the organized left.
We understand that the personal is political, or more specifically, that what one does in their personal life reflects on their political life, and vice versa. Consequently, while we neither are capable of nor desire to police the personal lives of our members, we intend to hold our members to a high-degree of conduct in all aspects of their lives. This is included, but not limited to: social media, interactions with other organizations, internal membership activity, personal relationships between members, and relationships outside of the organization.
On the prevention end, theoretical training in understanding the sources and concrete manifestations of oppression as well as practical training in recognizing and counteracting oppressive behavior are a fundamental part of our recruitment process. All individuals are required to undergo this education as a part of membership. Mediators, or those tasked with investigating cases, will undergo further systematized education to fulfill this role.
Given our existence as a small revolutionary organization without meaningful access to financial or political resources and our principled disagreement with the form and function of capitalist legal systems, our approach to handling misconduct must differ. We do not have the ability to compel evidence from witnesses or the resources to rehabilitate or restore abusers. Nor do we believe that anyone has a right to be in a revolutionary organization if they have fundamentally broken the trust of their communities.
From the beginning to the end of a disciplinary process, the complainant will have the right to determine their level of involvement and, in the case that disciplinary action is required, what form that takes. In line with our aim of prioritizing survivors, our motto is: when in doubt, the account of the accuser will be believed over the account of the accused.
Every individual has a right to participate in our accountability processes, whether they are a CORS member or not. Complaints may be lodged against any current or former CORS member. Participation in our accountability processes does not preclude an individual utilizing other avenues to find redress.
If you would like to file a complaint on behalf of yourself or another individual, the process will function as follows:
Given our focus on the needs of survivors, consequences for oppressive behavior will be determined in coordination with the survivor’s wishes and according to our structural ability to carry out different courses of action. For some infractions, we will have educational conversations with comrades to help correct their behavior, in tandem with educational programs or trainings which help them to unlearn oppressive behavior. For repeated and especially harmful infractions, our primary course of action must be suspension or expulsion.
In the event of an expulsion, the entire membership of the organization will be notified of the name of the expelled member and the harm which they caused in as much detail as is possible without exposing the identity of the survivor. Expelled individuals will not be allowed to participate in any meetings or actions planned by our organization. Additionally, we reserve the right to notify other socialist and leftist organizations, locally and nationally, to bar the individual from actions and meetings, particularly if it is likely that the individual will be a repeat offender.
Oppression based on Race, Ethnicity, Religion, or Nationality
Xenophobia
Antisemitism
Language Status
Oppression based on Gender or Sexuality
Bullying
Ability Status (ableism)