brainworm reviewed Swarmwise by Rick Falkvinge
Combining hierarchy & movement to found the Pirate Party and gain a seat at the EU Parliament.
4 stars
(Writing this review from memory almost 10 years after reading!)
Falkvinge writes his personal history of the Swedish Pirate Party, from founding in 2006 (the first Pirate Party) to gaining a seat at the EU elections in 2009.
It is a deeply pragmatic book. The process of founding a Party + Movement is non-trivial, and since it is a mixed strategy, requires compromise. The approach is described as having a centralized "scaffold" (of people in salaried or elected positions) which activists act from. The "3 Pirate" rule was an interesting innovation, where activists could make decisions in the name of the Pirate Party if 2 others agreed with them. This significantly decentralized power and enabled lots of creative actions. Still, the mostly centralized scaffold of party staff were able to make rapid and bold actions of their own, while consulting with activists, not getting held back.
A …
(Writing this review from memory almost 10 years after reading!)
Falkvinge writes his personal history of the Swedish Pirate Party, from founding in 2006 (the first Pirate Party) to gaining a seat at the EU elections in 2009.
It is a deeply pragmatic book. The process of founding a Party + Movement is non-trivial, and since it is a mixed strategy, requires compromise. The approach is described as having a centralized "scaffold" (of people in salaried or elected positions) which activists act from. The "3 Pirate" rule was an interesting innovation, where activists could make decisions in the name of the Pirate Party if 2 others agreed with them. This significantly decentralized power and enabled lots of creative actions. Still, the mostly centralized scaffold of party staff were able to make rapid and bold actions of their own, while consulting with activists, not getting held back.
A good book for people wanting to start, do and lead. (Reminds me of "Blueprint for revolution" by Srdja Popovic which is another movement autobiography or Otpor! in Serbia.)
