by Crimethinc. Workers' Collective
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Imagine the relationships in your collective as a system that can be diagrammed: support and information pass between some members more than others; pair bonds are formed, tighten, loosen. All this is inevitable, and fine enough; but the general shape of the system has critical effects on the way it works for those inside it. Some collectives have circular systems, in which communication takes place between all participants, or, if two members are not interacting as much, they are at least linked to each other by everyone else; other collectives develop linear systems, in which at some point in the chain of relationships there is one person who alone connects one group or individual to the rest. The circular system is healthy and durable; the linear system is perilous and fragile.
Linear dynamics are not always accompanied by hierarchical power structure?but at the very least, they tend to encourage power polarization. The skills and needs of the people occupying the two (or more) ends of the line often evolve independently of each other, and the resulting specialization of interests can lead to conflict.
Communication, which ordinarily would resolve such conflicts, is especially difficult in a collective that has linear dynamics, because the one person who links the different "wings" of the collective has to represent them to each other. Representation is already
Dynamics: A Round Table, Not a House of Representatiues
Collectives 199
* Non-monogamous relationships can
ako generate drama within collectives,
of course. Whenever you consider
becoming romantically invohed
with someone who is important to
you as a partner in ongoing projects,
contemplate whether you would be able
to continue your collaboration even if
the relationship ended badly.
Collectives
200
recognized by anarchists as unhealthy and disempowering: the politicians who claim to represent our interests in so-called democracies inevitably fail us, for one can only learn one's own interests by representing oneself. Even if the linking member earnestly makes every effort to represent the needs of the different parties to each other, he or she ultimately does a disservice to both by enabling them to avoid figuring out how to communicate directly. Additionally, the stress this representing imposes on the linking member, especially if one or both sides are being aggressive, can be extremely difficult to bear. This stress, Hke all stress in a collective, is inevitably passed back on to everyone else again?so don't try to be a hero, solving everyone's problems and carrying the whole group forward on the strength of your diplomacy.
The linear dynamic is a classic problem for collectives in which two members are involved in a love relationship, since in our society people in such relationships are encouraged to isolate themselves from others and form one unit, the joint interests of which are then related to the group by one of the two. Blame monogamy monoculture for this. This doesn't mean people who are romantically involved can't be in a collective together, but they do need to be especially aware about keeping communication mutual and representation to a minimum. Non-monogamy, not in terms of sex so much as relationship expectations and dynamics, has a lot to teach us on this subject (see Non-Monogamous Relationships, pg. 397)."
It may well happen in a crisis situation that one member will retreat into isolation from the rest of the collective, fearing or resenting all of them except perhaps the one who knows best how to communicate with him or her. This situation will not be resolved until the others can recognize his or her needs, and the individual can feel support coming from all of them. As the success of any collective project depends on everyone involved, this should always be possible, somehow?it had better be, since in the long run no shortcut or substitute wdll suffice.
Avoiding linear collective dynamics is as easy, and as hard, as solving every other internal collective problem: watch out for bad patterns, keep lines of communication open, don't be insensitive. Remember not to carry someone else's load when it comes to communication, any more than any other responsibility; remember also not to be so difficult to approach that others avoid you.
If only this didn't need saying! You may not think it does, yourself, until pursuing your Don't Be a Jerk visions of total revolution to the ends of the earth lands you and your friends in your first, or fiftieth, really trying catastrophe, and tempers start to flare.
