I am very interested in how the internet can be used to facilitate left-wing political activity. I would like to learn about:
- structures of historical political organizations
- why the structure and practices that work do work
- how networked compiled by social media platforms tend to be structured, also if there is a difference between that and how online social networks were structured prior
- political projects which have been made easier or made possible by the internet
- organization theory, but less corporate and focused on hierarchical organizations
- methods of community building and how early action affects community structure and health down the line
Any recommendations are appreciated. Books, articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, etc
I would also love to talk with anyone who has relevant experience building online communities or with connecting the online to the physical
Rodrigo Nunes - Neither Vertical Nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organisation (Highly, highly recommend to everybody, also available free on libgen and I intend to upload to the Perusall group as well)
Rodrigo Nunes - It Takes Organizers to Make a Revolution
Barbara Ransby - Ella Taught Me: Shattering the Myth of the Leaderless Movement
Frederic Lordon - Imperium: Structures and Affects of Political Bodies
Stafford Beer - Designing Freedom
For more general theory about political organising you might want to look into the works of authors like Lenin, Luxemburg, Freire, Jodi Dean, Murray Bookchin, Abdullah Ocalan, Jane McAlevey, and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. In the reading group we read Robin Kelley's Hammer and Hoe which covered a lot of organising methods in the great depression era. Looking into past organisers like Harry Haywood, or pretty much any of the Black Panthers might also be useful to you? Groups like the IWW also have plenty of material on organising.
This is fantastic! I’ve added these to my reading list and will be working through them
Neither Vertical nor Horizontal was probaly the best thing I read last year. Revisiting it now and it has such a brilliant analysis of organising and everything that entails. Also fills me with a lot of hope for possibilities!
Yes, I think its very good throughout. Definitely made me think differently about some things.