There are four simple requirements for an effective organisation:
• people
• politics
• resources
• commitment
1) People
People is pretty self-explanatory. To have a group you need more than one person and arguably at least five before it becomes sustainable.
Fortunately, in most places anarchists are not very hard to come across. Thus assuming that at least 1 in 1,000 people might consider themselves to be an “anarchist”, even in fairly small towns there are likely to be at least a dozen or so people who may be interested in organising an anarchist group.
Unfortunately, the next step many groups take is to try and set up a group which includes just about everyone that adopts the label. This may seem like the logical thing to do, but problems invariably arise, particularly when we look at the next two requirements.
2) Politics
For a group to be effective it has to have a clear idea of what it is fighting for, not simply what it is fighting against. It must also agree what are the best tactics to use and have a commitment to employing such tactics by the group as a whole. (This issue will be discussed further below.)
3) Resources (Filthy lucre)
In order to function, an organisation needs to be able to produce literature, have somewhere to meet, have access to funds for mailouts and dozens of other activities that require lots of the green stuff. Ways of tackling this requirement include:
* Ignoring it
This means that things only take place if someone is willing to fund them out of their own pocket. This is not uncommon, but can often result in things simply not getting done. Worse, it tends to give those with better access to resources undue influence.
* Organising fund raisers
This is a common response. This can work well for special purchases, but if a group relies on fund-raising too much it can sometimes turn into a drag and be a waste of scarce resources.
* Membership fees
Some groups impose membership fees. Typically, members contribute a small precentage of their gross income on a weekly or monthly basis (a percentage is obviously fairer than a flat rate). This ensures that the group has a regular income. Of course, it can also has a negative effect on the first requirement — people — as some may be unwilling to lose the equivalent of a couple of beers a week. Which brings us to the fourth requirement: commitment.
4) Commitment
The amount of work you do on behalf of the group and the amount of money you’re willing to contribute to it largely depends on you feeling good about the organisation. It is adversely affected if you feel you are being used, or that others are not willing to contribute their share. That much is obvious. However, it’s also true that your commitment will be dependent on how much you actually agree with what the group is doing/saying and whether the group seems to be going somewhere or just treading water. It’s easy to keep people around when lots of stuff is happening: the difficult thing is the periods in between bursts of activity.
Some favour a ‘high-commitment’ oriented group over a ’as many people as possible’ one, on the basis that, over time, the ‘high-commitment’ group can grow to involve many, whereas the reverse is argued to be a lot less likely.
But enough background, here’s some concrete ideas:
Find another four or five people that are willing to do something serious. You may know this many already. If not, get an address you can put on leaflets and start leafleting demos etc. with anarchist stuff. Get a flag or a banner together. Maybe call a public meeting on anarchism and see who turns up.
Once you get four or five people together be prepared to spend a couple of years getting your act together before you start to expand. If considered appropriate, agree on a membership levy and conditions of membership. Write down agreed perspectives and strategies for promoting anarchism and getting involved in activity. Start publishing your ideas regularly. If written, sell it through sympathetic bookshops, at meetings and protests. Getting involved in ongoing struggles develops respect for your group as good activists and people with good ideas. Don’t concentrate on simply talking to other anarchists, concentrate on talking to people.
Above all, be patient. A big problem is the ’revolution next year’ syndrome, when people expect a lot to happen and then get disappointed when reality doesn’t measure up to their expectations. Work out where you are going but be prepared to go there slowly. It’s likely to be some time before you get any serious return on all your hard work.
