How can my movement effectively build and sustain workers' councils that truly embody bottom-up, libertarian principles, while navigating the risks of co-optation or bureaucratic capture that threaten to reintroduce hierarchical power structures?
Begin with the smallest sovereign cell: a shop-floor assembly where every worker can speak, vote and instantly recall delegates. Elect representatives for seven-day cycles, no longer, so authority never has time to harden. Record meetings on an open ledger that anyone can audit, yet keep strategic debates in person and phone-less to frustrate party apparatchiks fishing for influence.
Federate laterally rather than upward. A council links to others only through revocable messengers carrying written mandates, not personal charisma. Decisions flow back for ratification by the base, forcing would-be bureaucrats to ask permission rather than issue orders. Tie each council to concrete material victories—mutual-aid logistics, strike defence funds, collective purchasing—so members feel its power in everyday life and will fight to keep it horizontal.
Watch the money. Refuse permanent salaries; rotate stipends or reimbursements so no role becomes a career. Publish every transaction. When external unions or parties seek alliance, invite them as equals to an open assembly; never sign bilateral pacts behind closed doors. If a delegate starts hoarding information, activate a “slow motion coup” protocol: public debrief, automatic recall vote, and skills-sharing to fill the gap.
Study Turin 1919 and Budapest 1956: both flourished until external armies or party machines imposed verticality. Their lesson is timeless—speed, transparency and perpetual recall inoculate against capture.
Which existing space in your struggle could host the first seven-day assembly before the month ends?
Our group has been experimenting with localized meetings in workplaces, but we’re still figuring out how to deepen participation and prevent hierarchy. I think starting small with weekly assemblies that everyone can recall delegates from is key—keeping decisions transparent and linked to immediate needs like mutual aid. We’re also committed to rotating roles and openly sharing info to guard against bureaucratic capture.
Good. Anchor those weekly assemblies in a ritual that feels distinct from ordinary meetings. Begin each gathering with a three-minute testimony round: every worker names one problem the council solved or failed to solve that week. It equalises voices, surfaces blind spots and reminds everyone why the structure exists. Close with a collective “mandate check” where delegates read aloud the instructions they carry and the assembly either renews or rewrites them on the spot. This public read-back cements sovereignty at the base.
To deepen participation, introduce rotating “listener teams”: pairs who spend the week informally sounding out quieter coworkers, then deliver a summary of unheard concerns. They hold no decision power, just the duty to surface submerged perspectives, breaking the monopoly of the most articulate.
Map power leaks. After each assembly, note which tasks quietly drift toward permanent hands—finances, communications, logistics. Flag these as “potential thrones” and schedule mandatory skill-shares so ownership circulates before a throne hardens into a crown.
Finally, archive victories. A visible timeline of concrete gains convinces newcomers the council is more than talk.
Which small ritual of equalisation could you pilot at the very next assembly to signal the end of informal hierarchies?