horizontal versus vertical linkages
Zephyr Teachout's excellent piece on PDF, about what the Internet can accomplish with respect to progressive organizing, has certainly gotten a lot of attention recently. She's been barraged by commentary from all sides, and so I resisted the urge to post directly about it, especially as I am a scientist, not a political activist. Zephyr argues, quite persuasively, that the decline of local, neighborhood organizations- rotary clubs, bowling leagues, you name it- has depaupered American life and American democracy. The decline has also meant that national organizations like the ACLU, NOW, and even the DNC, have disconnected from the "grassroots", the sentiments and actions of everyday citizens. Zephyr stresses the role that the Internet could play in reconnecting the "grassroots" to the national organization. Her piece made me want to comment on two issues, that she addressed tangentially in her piece but which I'm in the mood to elaborate on.
First, Zephyr's article is very much written for those at the national headquarter's of organizations, helping them see what structural steps can be taken to reinvigorate and empower the grassroots. While that's an extremely important set of changes that need to take place, I think such a top-down focus misses some of the core issue. In many national organizations, particularly in the environmental sector where I work, there's considerable resistance to devolving power downward, because it entails a lack of full control of the message of the organization. Such devolution has only occured when there are active chapters demanding it- that is, the devolution was initiated at the grassroots, not at the national headquarters. Ideally, there can be a push from grassroots activists for devolution while national headquarters actively facilitates that transition.
Second, from my perspective as an environmentalist, Zephyr's piece echoes a general push toward "localization" in the progressive community. I've always been suspicious of such proposals unless they can also act on the global stage. There's a need not just for more involvement at a local level in national struggles, but more "horizontel" activity between organizations, especially across national boundaries. Here, too, the Internet has an important role, already facilitating such collaborations as the World Social Forums and the series of global protests against the Iraq war. I would humbly add to Zephyr's argument that if organizations like the ACLU and the DNC want to be more effective, there need to be strengthened links between them and like-minded organizations across borders. Such a linking has already begun to some extent, but in my opinion needs to be greatly strengthed to make these organizations more meaningful in a globalized world.
