Just as we were having this discussion, I happened to be invited to attend a meeting of CWA regulatory activists from around the country who are in town for the national legislative and political conference. This was a general working group with about sixteen folks, so nothing earthshaking, but I was one of only three white males in the room, about half were folks of color, and most were women. It was a mixture of elected leadership, staff and rank-and-file members of regulatory task forces from various states.
One big reason you had that diversity is that every single one had their flight paid for and I believe their time covered for being at the meeting. So you did not have a meeting self-selected of those with the time or money to sphlep across the country. And the resources were there because of hierarchical bureaucracy.
I don't buy the Piven and Cloward line that pure movements don't have bureaucracy and its growth is a sign of receding activism. Stupid useless bureaucracy may be a sign of declining activism, but vibrant organizational structures that provide the resources to create real democracy are the most important fruits of historical activism. It is not just that organization gives grassroots groups the flexibility and power to challenge concentrated economic power but it also gives them the ability to create greater democracy within the movement.
Spontaneity is lovely for folks who already have freedom and the ability to take advantage of it, but for those without such privileges, bureaucracy in a requirement for democracy, not its enemy.
That doesn't mean that all energy is concentrated in the bureaucracy but it becomes a facilitator of that broader activism. The abscence of indigenous bureacracy usually means that outside forces end up having control of your movement - in the case of A16 those forces being foundation-funded NGOs. Lots of activists meet "spontaneously" in the streets, while those with the funding from outside forces end up being the intellectual spokespeople speaking for the movement.
That's not democracy and never will be.
-- Nathan Newman