Coordinatorism

Coordinatorism is a term for detrimental effects of individuals taking on coordinating roles, as part of any effort at organisation. The problems may be due to the individuals' abuse or negligent use of their power, or simply the natural outcome of such centralising roles. Usually all three elements are present to varying degrees.

Coordinatorism may be associated with any system which contains elements of centralisation, including both the economic practices of communist states during the twentieth century, where the allocation of production and consumption was highly centralised, or the Western economies during the same time frame, where allocation happened to large degree through the market. Coordinatorism is not an alias for any particular governmental system: it can apply to any such system.

Examples of coordinatorism

In a capitalist setting, the theory of coordinatorism by government interferes in private property rights, such as the production, consumption and allocation of goods, services and roles.

Likewise under a state socialist setting, the theory of coordinatorism supposes that a small group of powerful individuals controls the means of production and the allocation of resources, while the vast majority of the population (the workers) is not involved in the economic decision-making process.

Coordinatorism and volunteering

Groups in the social justice, environmental rights and peace movements mostly consist of volunteers. Although some of these groups reject capitalism, either partially or totally, frequently the attitude of those same groups toward coordinatorism is much more ambiguous. The "NGO" set of groups tends to accept coordinatorism, with salaried coordinators who work on behalf of others rather than transferring their skills; however a more radical, anarchist trend also exists which advocates, and attempts to practice, rejection of any form of coordinatorism.

Practical methods for minimising coordinatorism

Practical methods for minimising coordinatorism include consensus decision making, radical transparency, rotation of facilitation roles and day-to-day work roles among individuals, and giving the least experienced in coordination skills full encouragement and time to learn these skills.

The radical economist Robin Hahnel and a co-founder of Z-Magazine, Michael Albert, have recently developed a new economic theory which rejects both coordinatorism and capitalism, and tries to give every person as much say in decisions as they are affected by them. They call it Participatory economics.

See also

Economic theories of the composition of the soviet-style societies:
*new class
*state socialism
*state capitalism
*bureaucratic collectivism
*degenerated workers state
*deformed workers state

External links

* [http://www.zmag.org/parecon/lookingforward/lfPrologue_2.htm General discussion of coordinatorism] , from Z-Magazine
* [http://www.zmag.org/socagenda.htm Coordinatorism compared to socialism] , from Z-Magazine