The Tyranny of Structurelessness
Encyclopedia
"The Tyranny of Structurelessness" is an influential essay by American feminist Jo Freeman
inspired by her experiences in the 1970s women's liberation movement
concerning power relations within radical feminist collectives.
The essay reflected on the experiments of the feminist movement in resisting the idea of leaders and even discarding any structure or division of labor. However, as Hilary Wainwright
wrote in Zmag
, Freeman described how "this apparent lack of structure too often disguised an informal, unacknowledged and unaccountable leadership that was all the more pernicious because its very existence was denied."
The phrase has been used to describe one problem in organizing, the other being "rigidity of structure," by ecofeminist
Starhawk
.
In 2008 "Community Development Journal" reviewed the article a "classic text" which editors felt had influenced the practice of community development. That year a John F. Kennedy School of Government
course used the paper in a course on leadership.
Some anarchists have objected to Freeman's analysis because it also has been applied to some anarchist organizing. Howard J. Ehrlich discussed the negative impact of the article on anarchist organizing in Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Cathy Levine wrote a 1979 rejoinder "The Tyranny of Tyranny." In a review of the essay for Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed
, Jason McQuinn
noted its popularity among leftist
and platformist anarchists.">http://www.geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20091027085153/http://geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archivedate=2009-10-27}}http://www.geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20091027085153/http://geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archivedate=2009-10-27}}]
in May 1970. Freeman has stated that it was transcribed in 1971 for the feminist magazine Notes from the Third Year (whose editors chose not to include it) and submitted to several women's liberation movement publications, only one of which sought her permission to publish it. Other outlets published it without asking, and it was first officially published in the journal The Second Wave in 1972. It was issued in pamphlet form by Agitprop
in 1972, and later by the Organisation of Revolutionary Anarchists, Leeds Group, United Kingdom
. In 1973 the author published different versions in the Berkeley Journal of Sociology and in Ms. magazine. It also was published in Radical Feminism by Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine, and Anita Rapone. Later printings included that of the Anarchist Workers' Association (Kingston Group), and in 1984 in a pamphlet called "Untying the Knot - Feminism, Anarchism & Organisation" jointly published by Dark Star Press and Rebel Press (printed by Aldgate Press).
Jo Freeman
Jo Freeman is an American feminist, political scientist, writer and attorney. As a student at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s, she became active in organizations working for civil liberties and the civil rights movement...
inspired by her experiences in the 1970s women's liberation movement
Women's liberation movement
The Women's Liberation Movement was a political movement, born in the 1960s from Second-Wave Feminism.It generated mythology almost before it was born such as bra burning - and it was allegedly a matter of deep concern to those within it at the time that its history would allegedly be rewritten...
concerning power relations within radical feminist collectives.
The essay reflected on the experiments of the feminist movement in resisting the idea of leaders and even discarding any structure or division of labor. However, as Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright is a British socialist and feminist, best known for being editor of Red Pepper magazine.-Personal life:Hilary Wainwright's father was the Liberal MP Richard Wainwright, and her brother, Martin, is the Northern Editor of The Guardian, to which she occasionally contributes.She...
wrote in Zmag
Z Communications
Z Communications is a radical left-wing media group founded in 1986 by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent. It advocates participatory socialism as a replacement for capitalism. Its publications include Z Magazine, ZNet, Z Media, and Z Video.Z Communications is based outside Woods Hole, Massachusetts...
, Freeman described how "this apparent lack of structure too often disguised an informal, unacknowledged and unaccountable leadership that was all the more pernicious because its very existence was denied."
The phrase has been used to describe one problem in organizing, the other being "rigidity of structure," by ecofeminist
Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which points to the existence of considerable common ground between environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism...
Starhawk
Starhawk
Starhawk is an American writer and activist. She is well known as a theorist of Paganism, and is one of the foremost popular voices of ecofeminism. She is a columnist for Beliefnet.com and On Faith, the Newsweek/Washington Post online forum on religion...
.
In 2008 "Community Development Journal" reviewed the article a "classic text" which editors felt had influenced the practice of community development. That year a John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
course used the paper in a course on leadership.
Some anarchists have objected to Freeman's analysis because it also has been applied to some anarchist organizing. Howard J. Ehrlich discussed the negative impact of the article on anarchist organizing in Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Cathy Levine wrote a 1979 rejoinder "The Tyranny of Tyranny." In a review of the essay for Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed
Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed
Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed is a North American anarchist magazine, and is one of the most popular anarchist publications in North America. It could be described as a general interest and critical, non-ideological anarchist journal...
, Jason McQuinn
Jason McQuinn
Jason McQuinn is an American anarchist, founder and co-editor of Alternative Press Review, and founder and former co-editor of the journal Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed from 1980 to 1995, when Tad Kepley took it over, and again from 1997 to 2006...
noted its popularity among leftist
Left anarchism
Left anarchism or left-wing anarchism refer to left-wing forms of anarchism. It posits a future society in which private property is replaced by reciprocity and non-hierarchical society...
and platformist anarchists.">http://www.geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20091027085153/http://geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archivedate=2009-10-27}}http://www.geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20091027085153/http://geocities.com/kk_abacus/ioaa/tyranny.html|archivedate=2009-10-27}}]
Publication history
The essay originated as a speech given to the Southern Female Rights Union at a conference in Beulah, MississippiBeulah, Mississippi
Beulah is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 473 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:Beulah is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land....
in May 1970. Freeman has stated that it was transcribed in 1971 for the feminist magazine Notes from the Third Year (whose editors chose not to include it) and submitted to several women's liberation movement publications, only one of which sought her permission to publish it. Other outlets published it without asking, and it was first officially published in the journal The Second Wave in 1972. It was issued in pamphlet form by Agitprop
Agitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
in 1972, and later by the Organisation of Revolutionary Anarchists, Leeds Group, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In 1973 the author published different versions in the Berkeley Journal of Sociology and in Ms. magazine. It also was published in Radical Feminism by Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine, and Anita Rapone. Later printings included that of the Anarchist Workers' Association (Kingston Group), and in 1984 in a pamphlet called "Untying the Knot - Feminism, Anarchism & Organisation" jointly published by Dark Star Press and Rebel Press (printed by Aldgate Press).
External links
- The Tyranny of Structurelessness (jofreeman.com)