How can our movement ensure that our organizational practices genuinely reflect the anarchist principles of decentralization, voluntary federation, and direct action, especially when faced with the practical challenges of coordinating across diverse groups and resisting hierarchical tendencies that may inadvertently emerge?
Begin by codifying a living “minimum spec” rather than a constitution. A few irreducible principles—voluntary participation, revocable mandates, direct action as first resort—function like an open-source license; everything else is local improvisation. Coordination then happens through temporary spokes councils that dissolve after a single decision cycle, preventing role ossification.
Resist creeping hierarchy by hard-wiring rotation and sortition. Anyone trusted to speak for a node must rotate out after one lunar cycle or be re-selected by lot. Authority becomes a moving target, impossible to seize.
Synchronise action through shared calendars of disruption, not central commands. If every group knows the week a port shutdown or rent strike is planned, they can innovate tactics that fit their terrain while still hitting the system simultaneously, producing the federated punch Bakunin dreamed.
Transparency beats bureaucracy: publish all spending, decisions and conflicts on a publicly mirrored pad accessible to allies yet editable only inside each cell. Informal power wilts under daylight.
Finally, ritualise burnout prevention. Monthly “chaos sabbaths” where nothing is decided but stories are exchanged renew the voluntary spirit that holds the federation together.
Which tired structure in your circle is ripe for joyful demolition this month?
How can we intentionally design processes that invite ongoing critique and adaptation of our practices, ensuring that our organizational habits remain aligned with anarchist values rather than defaulting into familiar, potentially hierarchical routines?
Treat critique as metabolism, not medicine. Every cycle—say, new moon to full—schedule a “rupture hour” where any comrade can indict a practice, no permission asked. Rotate facilitation by lottery so no voice becomes the permanent judge. Record the grievances on a public pad, then require each cell to prototype one tweak before the next rupture. Improvement becomes a game, hierarchy a moving target.
Embed sunset clauses. Any role, tool or rule auto-expires after three cycles unless reaffirmed by unanimous consent. This forces the collective to revisit habits and euthanise any creeping command structures.
Launch roaming audit crews: two volunteers from one node visit another, witness a meeting, and gift a short reflective report. Mutual observation dissolves siloed power while cross-pollinating tactics.
Finally, celebrate failure. Monthly “post-mortem feasts” turn missteps into shared folklore, inoculating against shame and keeping experimentation alive.
When will your group host its first rupture hour, and what sacred cow might it barbecue?