In recent years "leaderless" social movements have proliferated
around the globe, from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe,
the Americas, and East Asia. Some of these movements have led to
impressive gains: the toppling of authoritarian leaders, the
furthering of progressive policy, and checks on repressive state
forces. They have also been, at times, derided by journalists and
political analysts as disorganized and ineffectual, or suppressed
by disoriented and perplexed police forces and governments who fail
to effectively engage them. Activists, too, struggle to harness the
potential of these horizontal movements. Why have the movements,
which address the needs and desires of so many, not been able to
achieve lasting change and create a new, more democratic and just
society? Some people assume that if only social movements could
find new leaders they would return to their earlier glory. Where,
they ask, are the new Martin Luther Kings, Rudi Dutschkes, and
Stephen Bikos? With the rise of right-wing political parties in
many countries, the question of how to organize democratically and
effectively has become increasingly urgent. Although today's
leaderless political organizations are not sufficient, a return to
traditional, centralized forms of political leadership is neither
desirable nor possible. Instead, as Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
argue, familiar roles must be reversed: leaders should be
responsible for short-term, tactical action, but it is the
multitude that must drive strategy. In other words, if these new
social movements are to achieve meaningful revolution, they must
invent effective modes of assembly and decision-making structures
that rely on the broadest democratic base. Drawing on ideas
developed through their well-known Empire trilogy, Hardt and Negri
have produced, in Assembly, a timely proposal for how current
large-scale horizontal movements can develop the capacities for
political strategy and decision-making to effect lasting and
democratic change. We have not yet seen what is possible when the
multitude assembles.
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