Collectivism, consensus and concepts of shared leadership in movements for social change

Abstract

In the 1970s, 'leadership' was a dirty word for many in the women's movement. Journalists trying to find a 'spokesman' complained of how upset women became if they were labelled as leaders. Leadership was associated with hierarchy and hierarchy was seen as inextricably linked with the patriarchal domination of women. To liberate themselves from patriarchy, women were trying to organise without hierarchy, through collectives and networks. Instead of there being leaders and followers, women would empower themselves through taking responsibility for decisions, which would be reached by consensus. At first there were attempts not only to resist the idea of leaders but also to do without structure at all. It was soon realised, however, that this could lead to unacknowledged and unaccountable leadership as informal power relations emerged. In an influential essay, American feminist Jo Freeman called this the 'tyranny of structurelessness'. Freeman's essay was roneoed and distributed widely within the women's movement, both in the United States and in Australia. It proved an important influence in the development of feminist organisational philosophy: it was better to have democratic structures than none at all. Freeman's democratic principles included delegating authority for specific tasks, requiring accountability to the group, distributing authority as widely as possible, rotating tasks and ensuring access by all members to information and other resources.