Coordination outside formal organization: consensus-based decision-making and occupation in the Occupy Wall Street movement

Abstract

Previous work has shown that a vital component for successful collective action is formal organization, in particular because it facilitates internal coordination. But how is coordination achieved in the absence of formal organization? To answer this question, this article presents findings drawn from an ethnographic study on Occupy Wall Street (OWS) in New York City. It first introduces the concept of ‘autonomy’ to discuss the particular challenge faced within the decentralized structure of OWS of developing coordination. It then shows how the practice of holding mass assemblies and the occupation of Zuccotti Park itself each served, in incidental and unintentional ways, as mechanisms of coordination. These findings confirm previous work on the importance of coordination and build upon it by demonstrating that not only is coordination possible outside formal organization, but that it is also in some cases achieved without conscious intention. This suggests the utility of moving beyond an overly rational understanding of social action by acknowledging the inevitability of unforeseen outcomes.

Keywords:

• social movements
• coordination
• organization
• Occupy movement
• consensus decision-making
• occupation

Notes

1. In contrast to previous movements, such as the global justice movement (Graeber, 2009), the common sentiment took police surveillance in all contexts for granted, and therefore participants were usually open to the presence of researchers, journalists, and other outsiders.

2. Consider, for example, the respective cases of George Martinez, the book Occupying Wall Street, and the Movement Resource Group.

3. See http://www.nycga.net/groups/accountability-transparency/forum/topic/what-happened-with-the-demands-wg/?topic_page=5.