Study Circle
The Study Circle is a new innovation emerging amongst the Populat of Claslat, a key part of the morale and propaganda work undertaken by the Lector Len and the Jade Caste Alchemical Vigorous March of Progress. These groups are the invention of neither lector nor Alchemical, instead having been proposed by the Plutarch administrator Bakun many centuries ago. The principle is simple: shifts gather together to discuss matters in groups, setting aside position and class: problems with their work & workplace are discussed and resolved by mutual satisfaction, suggestions on improvements are examined and accepted if found useful, leading to improved production and increased safety. Personal difficulties and problems with fellow workers are also aired, allowing communal support and resolution of disputes to maintain morale and a cohesive shift. Equal voice for all in the circle is important to allow each person to contribute, and the others to honestly examine the contribution, without holding back or recriminations.
Len and March encouraged such groups, pushing matters a step further: they encouraged study circles to consider matters of personal growth, tutoring each other in new skills and literacy; they also encouraged discussion which encompassed more than just the shift’s work… questions on how the shift fit into the society around it, how it could better contribute to that society, and how that society could better help it accomplish those contributions… subject matter that is inescapably political.
Len and March also hoped that study circles would encompass not only the working Populat but their directors and foremen, and even further to the planners and designers of the Tripartite… exposing such people to the views of the workers under their control would allow them to make better decisions, and keep them accountable for the consequences should they make poor ones. As one would expect, few Tripartite members have participated: aside from March and Len, only the junior plutarch Evar was a regular attendee.
It cannot be denied that the factories and foundries where study circles have been introduced have seen improvements in productivity and reductions in casualties, but should agitation from the circles erupt into open protests against the state, the nature of their discussions will likely see attempts to abolish them.
