Horizontal Politics

Horizontal Democracy Now: From Alterglobalization to Occupation

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

Interface: a journal for and about social movements 4(1)

This article examines the 15 May movement in Barcelona to explore some continuities and discontinuities between social... more This article examines the 15 May movement in Barcelona to explore some continuities and discontinuities between social movement responses to the economic crisis and previous experiments with horizontal democracy within global social movement networks. Specifically, this article examines two meeting structures embodied in the occupied square in Barcelona to explore the mechanisms through which decision making within the 15 May movement foster diversity and embrace conflict. Based on a decade of involvement in the alterglobalization movement, attendance at meetings in the acampada in Barcelona at the height of the 15 May uprising, as well as follow up interviews and discussions with long-time activists in Barcelona, this article shows how the decision making practices used in the squares in Barcelona mimic, build on and expand on horizontal decision-making methods practiced within the alterglobalization movement. Some of the dilemmas created by the grounding of horizontal decision- making within local squares and the much larger scale of these meetings are explored.

The Social Forums as an ideal model of convergence

by Geoffrey Pleyers

Horizontalité et efficacité dans les réseaux altermondialistes

by Geoffrey Pleyers

Pleyers G., “Horizontalité et efficacité dans les réseaux altermondialistes”, Sociologie et sociétés, 2009, Vol. 41(2), pp. 89-110

Contrairement aux modèles classiques du développement des mouvements sociaux, l’altermondialisme n’a pas globalement... more Contrairement aux modèles classiques du développement des mouvements sociaux, l’altermondialisme n’a pas globalement évolué vers une institutionnalisation de ses associations et de ses événements. Sa structure organisationnelle reste largement basée sur des réseaux relativement autonomes. Cet article invite à considérer la réflexivité des acteurs et leurs cultures politiques comme l’un des facteurs explicatifs majeurs du maintien de structures réticulaires relativement souples au sein de l’altermondialisme. A partir d’études de cas, d’observations qualitatives, d’entretiens menés entre 1999 et 2008, cet article montre que le plébiscite apparent des organisations spécifiquement altermondialistes pour la forme réticulaire repose sur un malentendu opératoire. Les uns valorisent le réseau pour son efficacité, les autres parce qu’il favorise une organisation horizontale et participative. La forme du réseau renvoie ainsi pour les altermondialistes à deux ensembles de valeurs qui ne sont pas forcément compatibles.

The Global Justice Movement

by Geoffrey Pleyers

Globality Study Journal, N°19.
See also:
Alter-Globalization. Becoming Actor in the Global Age, Polity Press, Cambridge, (Dec. 2010).

http://uclouvain.academia.edu/GeoffreyPleyers/Books/347185/Alter-globalization._Becoming_Actors_in_the_global_age

After providing a brief overview of the global justice movement
history, this article analyzes the main argument... more After providing a brief overview of the global justice movement
history, this article analyzes the main argument raised by its activists to oppose the neoliberal ideology, as notably asserted by the shifts in the discourses of some G20 leaders. Activists however call attention to the gap between the speeches of the G20 leaders and the measures actually implemented.
Accordingly, global justice activists have decided to focus on seeking concrete outcomes through the following: specialized advocacy networks, empowerment at the local level and alliances with progressive regimes.

Occupy the US: Musings on Horizontal Decision-Making and Bureaucracy

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

Here I explore a few of the important lessons that seem to stand out after participating in horizontal decision-making... more Here I explore a few of the important lessons that seem to stand out after participating in horizontal decision-making processes in Barcelona, New York and Oakland. First, more awareness of the political values that underlie these seemingly practical meeting procedures referred to as “process” would be helpful. Second, the link between these political values and the social relations of economics could use some analysis: in order to create new political structures we actually have to let go of certain economic relations which we take as given. For example, horizontal decision-making does not work when we assume a) that resources are scarce, b) that we therefore need to compete with each other and c) ownership is an exclusionary relation – a proprietary relation. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the more we try to set the rules in stone, to find the ‘golden key’, the ideal set of procedures, the more we disengage from the central political questions of how we decide – a terrain of politics that has to remain open if it is to remain horizontal. In order for a ‘general assembly’ to be productive, effective and empowering to participants, the procedures have to maintain a certain degree of flexibility as the circumstances in which we find ourselves shift.

The Oakland Commune (Film about Occupy Oakland)

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

co-produced and co-written with Brandon Jourdan

On October 10th 2011, hundreds of people in downtown Oakland occupied Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of city hall. They... more On October 10th 2011, hundreds of people in downtown Oakland occupied Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of city hall. They built a self-organized tent city and began to meet some of the community's most urgent needs. They renamed the plaza Oscar Grant Plaza in honor of a young African-American man who was shot and killed by BART Police in 2009. Although the action was partially inspired by Occupy Wall Street and austerity protests throughout the world, Occupy Oakland's particular character resulted from years of struggle and repression in the Bay Area. This short documentary details the ongoing story of the Oakland Commune.

Occupy: Crossroads in Cairo

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

See the video here: http://vimeo.com/33842497

Cairo is a city engulfed in violent anticipation. Activists speak with pride about what they are accomplishing as they... more Cairo is a city engulfed in violent anticipation. Activists speak with pride about what they are accomplishing as they enter into their 11th month of struggle. And rightfully so. They “shed their fear” and came together to realise that despite continuous torture, repression, and military dictatorship, they are stronger than the authoritarian state. It’s a strangely powerful feeling that hangs in the air, that permeates conversations, that captures the imagination.

The Road to Democracy: The Political Legacy of 1968

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

International Review of Social History (2011), 56: 301-332

Over the past forty years, the social struggles of the “long 1960s” have been continuously reinterpreted, each... more Over the past forty years, the social struggles of the “long 1960s” have been continuously reinterpreted, each interpretation allocating a new mix of relevance and irrelevance to the brief global uprising. This article is a contribution to one such interpretation: the small but growing body of literature on the central importance of experiments with democracy within movements of the 1960s. Rather than examining the transformative effect of 1960s movements on institutional politics or popular culture, this article examines the lasting transformation 1960s movements had on social-movement praxis. Based on seven years of ethnography within contemporary global movement networks, I argue that when viewed from within social-movement networks, we see that the political legacy of the 1960s lies in the lasting significance of movement experiments with democracy as part of a prefigurative strategy for social change that is still relevant today because it is still in practice today.

Perhaps We Should Just Flip a Coin: Macro and Microstructures of the European Social Forum Processes, Euromovements

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

Doing is Believing: Prefiguration as Strategic Practice in the Alterglobalization Movement, Social Movement Studies 10(1): 1-20

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

In most accounts of social movements, prefiguration and strategy are treated as separate movement practices that are... more In most accounts of social movements, prefiguration and strategy are treated as separate movement practices that are either contradictory or complementary to each other. In this article I argue that in the case of the alterglobalization movement, we have to understand prefiguration itself as strategic. When movement goals are multiple and not predetermined, then prefiguration becomes the best strategy, because it is based in practice. By literally trying out new political structures in large-scale, inter-cultural decision-making processes in matters ranging from global politics to daily life, movement actors are learning how to govern the world in a manner that fundamentally redesigns the way power operates. This process constitutes a prefigurative strategy in which movement actors pursue the goal of transforming global politics, not by appealing to multilateral organizations or nation-states, but by actively developing the alternative political structures needed to transform the way power operates.

Reinventing Democracy, Red Pepper, December/January 2010

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

Marianne Maeckelbergh argues that one of the global justice movement's key innovations has been its approach to... more Marianne Maeckelbergh argues that one of the global justice movement's key innovations has been its approach to democratic decision-making

Royaume-Uni: horizontaux contre verticaux, Politique, Vol. 55

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

Outre-Manche, l’autonomie, plus marquée qu’ailleurs en Europe, des associations altermondialistes par rapport aux... more Outre-Manche, l’autonomie, plus marquée qu’ailleurs en Europe, des associations altermondialistes par rapport aux partis de gauche, engendre une critique très radicale du fonctionnement « vertical », hiérarchique, de ces derniers. Illustration à travers deux cas concrets : l’organisation du FSE de Londres en 2004 et la mobilisation contre le sommet du G8 de 2005 en Écosse.

The Ethics of Engagement Revisited: Remembering the ESF 2004

by Emma Dowling

WSF, ethics and pedagogy*

by Emma Dowling

Co-authored with Vanessa Andreotti