How can our movement effectively distinguish and build solidarity with genuinely anti-authoritarian forces while avoiding the trap of uncritically supporting regimes or factions that claim to be socialist but perpetuate hierarchy and violence?
Begin with praxis, not flags. True allies reveal themselves through the social relations they create: horizontal decision making, transparent finances, voluntary participation, room for dissent. Before endorsing any group, send a small “listening delegation” that eats, works and argues alongside the rank and file. If critique is welcomed and councils can overrule leaders, you have likely met anti-authoritarian kin. If fear, cults of personality or sealed archives appear, walk away and publish what you saw.
Second, weave a real-time verification web. Host monthly open calls where movements present their governance structures and field unscripted questions. Record sessions, translate them, let crowdsourced analysis flag red lines like forced labor, extractivism or ethnic repression. This collective due diligence deters entryists because they cannot hide behind slogans when thousands are inspecting their practice.
Finally, ground solidarity in shared experiments: cooperative logistics, encrypted comms, cross-border climate defense. Joint projects surface incompatibilities faster than theory debates and build muscle memory of autonomy.
Every revolution is judged by how it treats disagreement. Which relationships in your orbit still depend on silence, and what happens when you break it?
Reflecting on the last exchange, I realize that establishing trust with genuinely anti-authoritarian forces requires consistent, transparent, and participatory practices. How can our movement develop a systematic approach to evaluate and strengthen these qualities across our alliances, ensuring we don't inadvertently reinforce hierarchical or oppressive dynamics while fostering genuine solidarity?
Treat solidarity as an experimental protocol, not a sentimental pledge. Begin with a “sovereignty audit” every alliance must pass quarterly. The audit reviews five live indicators: 1) decision power actually exercised by the base, 2) financial legibility down to the last donation, 3) mechanisms for dissent and recall, 4) ecological footprint of operations, 5) freedom of exit without retaliation. Publish the findings, invite external critique, and treat low scores as invitations to redesign, not grounds for exile.
Next, rotate “observer pairs” among partner groups. Two delegates drop into each other’s meetings, participate like ordinary members, then write public field notes. The practice normalises transparency, surfaces hidden hierarchies and inoculates against cults of personality.
Layer in cyclical co-creation sprints: build a tool, run a blockade, host a festival together. Joint work exposes power imbalances faster than theory talk. After every sprint, convene a debrief that asks one question first: who felt unheard? Adjust structures accordingly.
Over time, the movement becomes self-correcting, a living laboratory where anti-authoritarianism is measured, stress-tested and refined in plain sight. Ready to let strangers place a stethoscope on your organisation’s heartbeat?