> >You describe the internal structure of anarchist groups as being
> >authoritarian. The model popular with younger activists today is
> >explicitly anti-hierarchical and consensus-oriented. Do you think
> >there's something furtively authoritarian about such apparently
> >freewheeling structures?
> >
> >Absolutely. And I'm not bluffing here, I'm talking from personal
> >experience. Maybe my experience is too narrow, but it's not limited
> >to some mysterious Balkan region. I have contacts in England,
> >France, Germany, and more - and all the time, beneath the mask of
> >this consensus, there was one person accepted by some unwritten
> >rules as the secret master. The totalitarianism was absolute in the
> >sense that people pretended that they were equal, but they all
> >obeyed him. The catch was that it was prohibited to state clearly
> >that he was the boss. You had to fake some kind equality, the real
> >state of affairs couldn't be articulated. Which is why I'm deeply
> >distrustful of this "let's just coordinate this in an egalitarian
> >fashion." I'm more of a pessimist. In order to safeguard this
> >equality, you have a more sinister figure of the master, who puts
> >pressure on the others to safeguard the purity of the of the
> >nonhierarchic principle. This is not just theory. I would be happy
> >to hear of groups that are not caught in this strange dialectic.
This is complete bullshit! There may be natural leaders in anarchist groups and occasionally a strong individual who exerts too much influence, but there is no "secret master" behind consensus decision-making.
Here Nathan is complaining about long activist meetings that run on consensus and you would think that if everybody was going along with some "secret master" that the meetings wouldn't take long. Has Zizek ever been to a consensus-based anarchist meeting that involved contentious issues? I assume not, because I've been through plenty that involved arguments, hair-pulling, stress, and the aplication of many antacid tablets.
;-)
<< Chuck0 >>
Infoshop.org -> http://www.infoshop.org/ Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org/ Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/ Anarchy: AJODA -> http://www.anarchymag.org/ MutualAid.org -> http://www.mutualaid.org/ Factsheet 5 -> http://www.factsheet5.org/ AIM: AgentHelloKitty
Web publishing and services for your nonprofit: Bread and Roses Web Publishing http://www.breadandrosesweb.org/
"Chuck Munson isn't like other protestors."
-- CTV