What Does Leaderless Mean?

A lot of people, both inside and outside of The Occupy Movement, have had some confusion over the concept of a leaderless movement. From the outside, you have people wondering how this is even possible and from the inside, you have people who wonder what the people leading meetings and groups are if not leaders. I hope to shed some light on both of these in this entry. My hope, is that I am able to dispense good information that answers questions while also not putting words in anyone’s mouth or squashing anyone’s view of what they are doing personally.

To say The Occupy Movement is a movement without leaders, is a truthful statement. There is not any single person saying do this, do it this way, and do it now. This is because every major decision in The Occupy Movement is made via vote at General Assembly meetings. A major decision would be characterized as anything that would play a factor in the direction the movement should take, not a minor decision like whether the coffee should be Decaff or not. Beyond the General Assembly there are committees responsible for certain aspects of the movement such as Direct Action, Media, and Education. Within these groups, decisions can be made and then taken to the General Assembly if needed where they will be voted on. All voting in the General Assembly meetings are made on the basis of consensus which is explained in relation to The Occupy Movement in this YouTube Video. It should be noted that while this is the process being utilized to vote on a decision, the process used to arrive at this point may be altered to meet the needs of a local movement.

With this being said, The Occupy Movement is also a movement without followers. Every person who brings their talents and skills to the movement, whether they are leading a committee or coming down on the weekend to hold a sign and lend their voice, are all the same at the General Assembly. Your voice is not based on your involvement, your voice is based on your willingness to use it. For anyone in this movement to say I did 75% more than that person did, their vote shouldn’t count for as much as mine does would be to spit in the face of one of the central points of the Occupy Movement. This point is that one person has one vote and that vote should be counted with the same regard of every other individuals’.

With this in mind, some may be wondering if there are no leaders then why do the same people organize the meetings? These are the people who began to organize the movement at their local level, and that is simply all they are organizers. They are only there to give structure to General Assembly meetings, to make sure they move forward in an orderly fashion. Anyone who has a concern about anything these organizers say or has a point to make that the organizers have not can utilize a process for that voice to be heard, and your voice will be heard whether you are a regular presence at the camp of an Occupy Movement or you are involved when your professional and private life allow you to be. This process is known as being “on stack”, one gets on stack by raising their hand during a General Assembly meeting, someone will come to you and take your name down, and you will be given your chance to be heard by everyone. Just like the people who are organizing the General Assembly.

While I have yet to experience or hear of any issues that would result in an organizer being asked to leave their role; I feel safe in saying that if a dialogue to resolve these issues did not prove productive in reaching a resolution that fixes the issue a vote would take place. This vote would hold just like a vote concerning any other major issues within local Occupy Movements.

With all of this in mind, it is important to remember this system is run by people and there may be the occasional communication break down and misunderstanding on an issue. It’s important to remember that if this happens, and you feel as though you’ve been ignored … there was no intent behind it. Dealing with large crowds in this fashion is an adaptation all involved in it are still making. Please address your concerns using the stack process at the next General Assembly meeting. Issues can, and should, be addressed as often as needed to make sure they are still effective in moving us forward as one.

To sum it all up, we lack leaders because we all lead. We lack followers because we stand together. We all have a voice, and it is time for us all to use it.