Andre Spicer, The Guardian; No bosses, no managers: the truth behind the ‘flat hierarchy’ facade
"Getting rid of formal hierarchies has also proved dangerous in social
movements. After spending years in the women’s liberation movement of
the 1960s, the American political scientist Jo Freeman warned of the “tyranny of structurelessness”. Although egalitarian and democratic structures have many benefits, she pointed out,
structurelessness easily “becomes a smokescreen for the strong or the
lucky to establish unquestioned hegemony over others”. By putting rules
and structures in place, you make it clear and transparent how the group
or organisation works. The lesson Freeman learned in the early 1970s
has been forgotten over and over again.
Fantasies of no rules, no bosses and no hierarchies are seductive.
Hierarchies can be repressive, rules can be absurd, and bosses can be
toxic. But not having these things can be worse."
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