Collaboration: A New Era of Empowerment

Cairo, Egypt, January 25, 2011. A chanting crowd marches into Tahrir Square in the center of Cairo to challenge the power of the dictator Mubarak, who has held power for decades. A few days before, a similar groundswell of popular outrage toppled the autocratic regime that ruled Tunisia. Inspired by that success, the Egyptian activists determine to stay in the square, violating long-standing prohibitions against protest. Days go by, and in spite of intimidation, arrests and attacks, they remain until finally Mubarak is forced to step down. Their success inspires similar uprisings in Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco and Libya, transforming in a few weeks the power structure of the Middle East.

At the same time, in the US, protestors flood the state Capitol of Wisconsin where governor Scott Walker is attempting to push through a law that would gut the power of unions. From the Mideast to the Midwest, ordinary people are taking action to challenge coercive power.

These uprisings are different in structure than revolutions of the past. No charismatic leaders take control. Organization exists within the mass, and groups at the center provide inspiration, direction and momentum, but there is no command structure to issue orders to the protestors, no head for the opposition to cut off, no leader to assassinate. As one commentator put it, "The swarm defeats the hierarchy."

A "New" Way of Organizing: Decentralized Collaboration

This way of organizing may seem to be very new, facilitated by all the tools of the Internet, from Facebook to Twitter, but decentralized collaboration is actually very old. It harkens back to the clan, the council around the fire, the village elders meeting underneath the sacred tree. Long before kings, generals, armies that marched in formation and codified classes of nobles and peons, people came together more or less as equals to make the decisions that affected their lives.

Collaborative groups are everywhere. They might be a group of neighbors coming together to plan how their town can make a transition to a more energy efficient economy or a church group planning a bake sale. They could be a group of anarchist forest defenders organizing a tree sit or a group of friends planning a surprise birthday party for a workmate. These all operate without centralized structures of command and control.


innerself subscribe graphic


Collaborative Groups: Setting Out to Change the World

Collaboration: A New Era of EmpowermentWhen we set out to change the world, when we organize to bring about greater freedom, justice, peace and equality, we most often create such groups. Collaborative groups embody some of our most cherished values: equality, freedom and the value of each individual.

And they can be enormously effective. In the 1970s, the Second Wave of the feminist movement was carried forward by consciousness-raising groups, small circles that met each week to share stories and experiences. Out of those discussions arose the issues, actions and campaigns that drove the movement. Alcoholics Anonymous and all its offshoots provide the most effective treatment for alcoholism and other addictions. They are structured around groups of peers who offer each other support with no experts or authorities taking control.

And there are thousands of other examples, from grassroots relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina to the collaborative art event/festival of Burning Man that draws tens of thousands to the Nevada desert every September.

Today, networks, collaboration, decentralization and the wisdom of crowds are hot buzzwords. Co-created projects like open source software and Wikipedia have not only been enormously succcessful; they are being touted as the business models of the future. Many corporations are opening up to forms of co-creation — from the Japanese-influenced consensus models to the hundreds of thousands of volunteer organizations working for social change and environmental balance.

As different as these groups and activities might seem, they have something in common. If you were to diagram their structure, your picture would look more like a circle than a pyramid or a traditional chain of command. These groups may include individuals who exhibit leadership, but they are not dependent on leaders. They are groups of peers, working together for common goals, collaborating and co-creating. Such groups are at the root of democracy, and participating in them can be a liberating, empowering, life-changing experience.

The Pros and Cons of Hierarchies

Hierarchies are appropriate and necessary for some endeavors. When the house is burning, we don't want the fire department to sit down and decide in a long-drawn-out meeting who will go in and who will hold the hose. In families, adults must exercise control over children if they want their offspring to survive. In emergencies, and where true differences of skill, training and knowledge exist, command and control structures may be needed.

But hierarchies also have their drawbacks. In a hierarchy, power differentials expand, so that those who issue orders also receive the greatest status and rewards, and the bottom rungs are not pleasant places to be. The workers who do the nastiest jobs receive the lowest pay and wield the least power.

Many of us submit to hierarchies for work, school or other ends because we often don't have other options. To make a living, we need to work in situations where others have control over us. But when we do have a choice — in our leisure time, our volunteer efforts, our work to better the world — we gravitate to groups of peers. In a group where we have an equal voice, we feel a sense of ownership, pride and investment. We feel empowered.

Empowered people stand for something in their lives. They take action, sometimes even facing great danger, because they know that they have the right and the responsibility to act in service of what they believe and care for. A young woman faces the cameras in Tahrir Square, smiles and says, "Today we Egyptians have lost our fear."

Empowerment comes from within — but the structures around us can evoke that inner strength and support it or deny and suppress it. Collaborative groups, when they are working well, create fertile ground where empowerment can flourish.

©2011 by Starhawk. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
New Society Publishers. http://newsociety.com


This article was adapted with permission from the book:

The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups
by Starhawk.

The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups by Starhawk.Collaborative organizations have the unique potential to harness their members' ideals, passions, skills, and knowledge — if they can succeed in getting along together. The Empowerment Manual provides keys to: Understanding group dynamics; Facilitating communication and collective decision-making; Dealing effectively with difficult people. Drawing on four decades of experience, Starhawk shows how collaborative groups can generate the cooperation, efficacy, and commitment critical to success.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.


About the Author

Starhawk, author of "The Empowerment Manual" (Starhawk photo by Bert Meijer)Starhawk, a highly influential voice for global justice and the environment, is deeply committed to bringing the creative power of spirituality to political activism. She is the author or co-author of twelve books and also teaches Earth Activist Trainings (www.earthactivisttraining.org), intensive seminars that combine permaculture design, political organizing, and earth-based spirituality. Her website is www.starhawk.org and she blogs at www.starhawksblog.org.