[lbo-talk] great article on mrzine on local organizing

Chuck chuck at mutualaid.org
Wed Mar 15 08:02:38 PST 2006


MICHAEL YATES wrote:
> There is a very fine article on local organizing by Michael Engel on
> mrzine, at <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/engel140306.html> It is on
> local organizing and it is sharply critical of the mindset of most
> "progressive" organizations. It describes the kind of behavior I
> observed so many times at the Socialist Scholars Conference and
> elsewhere. I'd love to get others' take on it.

Engel makes some obvious points about the tameness of upper middle class activists, but I'm annoyed by his outdated calls for more authoritarian leadership. Protest movements these days no longer operate with strong leaders who "tell people what to do." There are plenty of leaders, but they operate in groups which expect no hierarchy or appointed leaders.

Engel seems to be a bit confused about what his real argument is here. Is he upset that local activists aren't forming socialist cadre organizations or is he just whining about the usual upper class liberalism found among upper class activists?

Chuck0



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