36. A challenge to organisational
hierarchies
The party’s over: the appeal of
pre-figurative action
Citizens self-organise: but it’s
going to be complex
Recap
37. Creative Commons Images
Ethernet Cables http://www.flickr.com/photos/skreuzer/508996746/
Labour stall http://www.flickr.com/photos/skuds/137099141/
Crossing Line http://www.flickr.com/photos/77879116@N00/3992671299/
Glasses on a telescope http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcolman/2770528941/
Digital Clock http://www.flickr.com/photos/43935393162@N01/264920324/
Colin Crouch http://www.flickr.com/photos/71740098@N04/6646695663/
Occupy http://www.flickr.com/photos/39841756@N00/7990273026/
Piraten http://www.flickr.com/photos/notizn/4528673061/
Nocun http://www.flickr.com/photos/21604182@N04/8731699150/
Schlömer http://www.flickr.com/photos/41578052@N04/8731641362/
Magyar Garda http://www.flickr.com/photos/39142150@N04/5589653339/
Grillo http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncaranti/8404373429/
Farage http://www.flickr.com/photos/36612355@N08/6841578933/
Steven Johnson http://www.flickr.com/photos/66955594@N00/314496955/
Bee http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamtreesha/7894625598/
Hugh’s Fish Fight http://www.flickr.com/photos/emcmillanscott/7186180227/
Tap http://www.flickr.com/photos/54799099@N00/4816226411/
Tahrir Square http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/6401023697/
Riot Policeman http://www.flickr.com/photos/hozinja/5248122650/
UK School http://www.flickr.com/photos/disley/4239899529/
S:t Gorans http://www.flickr.com/photos/question_everything/3240361117/
Michael Sandel http://www.flickr.com/photos/48692800@N00/4350927585/
Drought http://www.flickr.com/photos/mundoo/317488203/
Amazon http://www.flickr.com/photos/16979315@N04/6633438565/
38. Politics meet citizens:
a way forward in an unstable scenario?
Jon Worth | @jonworth
PPT: j.mp/JWsotnPPT (10mb) | Slideshare: j.mp/JWsotnSS
Notas del editor
This is pretty obvious for people in this audience. I’m no more senior than any of the people here, and you are not more senior than me. We build a network among us here today, we then go away and do our own thing. But that’s not how the political world works.
We’re building networks onto traditional hierarchies. Is it like this?
Or like this? Essentially the problems of everyday politics are problems of organisational structure. And this is why so many of the types of people in this room have problems with everyday politics.
Will explain in a moment what that means
The party political tradition. Why does this matter? The people at the top are chosen this way. 4.3% of the electorate. Declining everywhere. See http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2013/05/06/decline-in-party-membership-europe-ingrid-van-biezen/ In only 4 of 27 EU Member States is membership up the last decade.
Join. Participate in the local committee. Region. National. Spend years going through the system. It’s your years of service, not your ability.
You become a different person when you cross the threshold into a party political meeting. We are not *normal* people in party politics. We can deal with that in our jobs – we are paid. But as volunteers? Why would we want to bother?
Transparency is welcome, but not adequate. We can see what they do, but we cannot become them.
So it will change, right? Mainstream parties will change. It’s a matter of time? Conclusion: NO. Worked with politicians of different ages. If you have been brought up in a system, why change it?
British prof Colin Crouch – has coined the term “Post Democracy” “ A post-democratic society is one that continues to have and to use all the institutions of democracy, but in which they increasingly become a formal shell” Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Post-democracy-Themes-Century-Colin-Crouch/dp/0745633153 Shorter paper: http://www.fabians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Post-Democracy.pdf
So what’s this “pre-figurative action” I mentioned? “ the attempt to practice the kind of democracy that the participants imagine” – essentially the organisation, the network, is the end in itself See: Mary Kaldor http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/10/20/subterranean-politics-europe/
And so you apply this to politics? The Pirates!
Katharina Nocun – policy coordinator Bernd Schlömer – chair of the party How many of you have heard of these people?
It can have nasty sides – Jobbik and Magyar Garda
So what about our friend in Italy, Beppe Grillo? Many of you are probably groaning just by seeing him
The UK has its own Grillo – Nigel Farage
What do Grillo and Farage have in common? They have realised that full party hierarchy is a headache, a burden, and have tried to reduce it. Both are at least flatter hierarchy movements than traditional parties. But what happens as the parties grow, are subjected to more scrutiny? Collapse, or professionalise, or Pirate-style network? Look at what is happening to Grillo locally, and the problems UKIP has with racism among its activists.
Advantage however is the traditional media hierarchies know how to deal with a Farage or a Grillo, but do not know how to deal with a Pirate Party. Remember the legacy role of mainstream media in social media – BBC the number 1 linked source on social networks in the UK.
So if the party political mainstream is in decline, and the alternatives are either populist or unworkable, what are you going to do? Steven Johnson’s book is a first step to try to answer some of these questions. Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Perfect-Case-Progress-Networked/dp/1594631840/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370077726&sr=8-2&keywords=johnson+future+perfect “ We believe in social progress and we believe the most powerful tool to advance the cause of progress is the peer network” BUT a world without gatekeepers or planners is noisier and more chaotic.
Neo-nico-tinoids - bees 7 petitions! In German alone!
The pressure group networked model
Hugh’s Fish Fight
European Citizens’ Initiative – first to get 1 million http://www.right2water.eu/ “Water is a human right”
As we well know we can network protest
But Tahrir Sq might be good. But UK Riots bad? How are we going to turn this into something workable?
Wikipedia on UK free schools http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_school_(England) Framed in public v private. What about not for profits? And the deal is that these schools are taken outside the control of local government. Is this right? There’s a defeatism in this too – that the state itself cannot improve.
Story on S:t Görans http://www.economist.com/news/business/21578020-sweden-leading-world-allowing-private-companies-run-public-institutions-hospital The hospital would have shut, but was privatised instead. Could cooperatives or companies or peer networks do a better job? And how, as citizens, would we remain in control of this?
So this – especially in Europe – takes us to another boundary – what are the things that the state must absolutely not give away. Are our boundaries different on this than they are in the USA? Michael Sandel book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Money-Cant-Buy-ebook/dp/B007IO1X5C/ref=la_B001H6IT4K_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370079918&sr=1-1