Political Protest & Cultural Revolution, part 3

Here I continue my review of Barbara Epstein's book Political Protest & Cultural Revolution (see part 1 and part 2) with consideration of one final issue that faced the organizations Epstein examines in the book: the consensus process.

The consensus process was used in the three movements she chronicles, the Clamshell and Abalone Alliances and the Livermore Action Group (LAG), with varying degrees of success. By now, consensus has become a fairly divisive issue in radical movements. As Epstein shows, it can be abused; there are inequalities of power that naturally arise in this, like any other, process; and it requires an enormous investment of energy.

This question, in many ways, goes to the point of my book, Our Tragic Flaw: A Case for Nonviolence. When we bring a frame of mind focused on our own narrow self-interest, a lack of openness to new inputs, and a willingness to impose our agenda on others, we can derail any system, no matter how enlightened. Consensus is no different.