You will have read Michael Woods' message about the result. The motion to boot
out Shell was defeated, as most will have expected. The question for many will
be what should be done next.
Personally, I was intending to resign. I was not particularly taken with the
idea of changing the RGS.. on the other hand, it is clear from the vote that
there is a sizeable minority within the RGS as a whole for (er...) more radical
action (especially, I guess, on issues around sustainable development). And, I
believe, there are many people in the RGS who would not appreciate mass
resignations because they would like us to shake up the RGS (as one person put
is at the SGM).
It was clear at the Shell vote SGM that the RGS is populated by Empire die-hards
and spooks, but on the other hand there is a much broader constituency for the
kinds of things we have been saying than I dared suspect.
That having been said, I don't think I can stomach staying in. It would probably
be a good idea to collect the names of those resigning and do it as a group...
if that's what people want to do.
Another way forward is to use the developing ethical guidelines as a lever on
Shell... the guidelines might well enable us to put pressure on the RGS's
corporate sponsorship policy across the board... if we can get evidence that the
sponsor's have failed to meet the ethical standards set (the standards involve
treatment of the environment, human rights and animal welfare), there will be
opportunities to put pressure on more than Shell.
The problem with doing much else is that the vote was democratic -- which seems
to leave people with a 'stay or go' option. A less democratic option might be to
down tools: refuse to sit on committees (including/especially the study groups);
refuse to referee or submit articles to Transactions/Area; refuse to go to
RGS/IBG 98 -- instead, use THIS forum to organise conference activities, day
conferences, etc., use other journals...
A final thought: Shell corporate sponsorship of the RGS gives them a kind of
legitimacy; the vote yesterday will be spun to consolidate Shell's claims about
having done no wrong in Ogoni... I do not want to be part of something that
gives Shell legitimacy.
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