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Structuring the “Structureless” and Leading the “Leaderless”: Power and Organization in the Student Movement at the University of California

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Student Movements in Late Neoliberalism

Part of the book series: Social Movements and Transformation ((SMT))

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Abstract

This chapter examines the tensions and challenges experienced by participants in the student movement at the University of California as they struggled to create new forms of decentralized organization and horizontal leadership. Focusing on the internal dynamics of the movement, I examine how power is allocated, the process of direct democracy, and why participants prefer certain organizational forms over others. I found that informal leadership and organization created hidden power dynamics and different understandings of direct democracy and the purpose of consensus, and created conflicts that often got in the way of solidarity. I also found that organizational preferences were in part determined by strategy and the varying goals and tactical preferences of participants, but also influenced by ideology and symbolic associations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Curry College, Milton, MA, USA

    Sarah L. Augusto

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  1. Sarah L. Augusto
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Correspondence to Sarah L. Augusto .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Florence, Italy

    Lorenzo Cini

  2. Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Florence, Italy

    Donatella della Porta

  3. Institute of Citizenship Studies, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    César Guzmán-Concha

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Augusto, S.L. (2021). Structuring the “Structureless” and Leading the “Leaderless”: Power and Organization in the Student Movement at the University of California. In: Cini, L., della Porta, D., Guzmán-Concha, C. (eds) Student Movements in Late Neoliberalism. Social Movements and Transformation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75754-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75754-0_4

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