[Noisebridge-discuss] Structure & Membership

[Trent Robbins]

Hi All,

In the past year I have been grappling a lot with to what degree the
membership at Noisebridge is just a board of directors with no term and a
flexible number of seats. It makes complete sense to me that people would
not want to burden the membership with all the implied burdens that a board
of directors has.  Past proposals to combine the two have been scandalous
for whatever reason; I don't know the details.

One of the key documents I have been struggling with is "The Tyranny of
Structurelessness" by Jo Freeman:
https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm

Noisebridge is anything but a structureless organization, but there is a
section of "The Tyranny of Structureless" that discusses how power comes to
be that I find particularly helpful, titled *"The Nature of Elitism"*.

In particular, I find this passage helpful:

> These friendship groups function as networks of communication outside any
regular channels for such communication that may have been set up by a
group. If no channels are set up, they function as the only networks of
communication. Because people are friends, because they usually share the
same values and orientations, because they talk to each other socially and
consult with each other when common decisions have to be made, the people
involved in these networks have more power in the group than those who
don't. And it is a rare group that does not establish some informal
networks of communication through the friends that are made in it.

> Some groups, depending on their size, may have more than one such
informal communications network. Networks may even overlap. When only one
such network exists, it is the elite of an otherwise Unstructured group,
whether the participants in it want to be elitists or not. If it is the
only such network in a Structured group it may or may not be an elite
depending on its composition and the nature of the formal Structure. If
there are two or more such networks of friends, they may compete for power
within the group, thus forming factions, or one may deliberately opt out of
the competition, leaving the other as the elite. In a Structured group, two
or more such friendship networks usually compete with each other for formal
power. This is often the healthiest situation, as the other members are in
a position to arbitrate between the two competitors for power and thus to
make demands on those to whom they give their temporary allegiance.
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