Consensus: A New Handbook for Grassroots Political, Social and Environmental Groups

by Peter Gelderloos

This quick-and-easy facilitator's guide to consensus decision making supposes no prior experience on the part of the reader and breaks the consensus process down logically in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step manner. A highly structured format allows the guide to serve not only as a how-to for the uninitiated, but also as a reference manual for those already familiar with the consensus process. While intended primarily for grassroots political and environmental groups, this handbook can be used in academia, in the corporate world, and by anyone who wants to cooperate with consensus.

Genres: Politics, Activism, Anarchism

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Peter Gelderloos is an American anarchist activist and writer.

Reviews

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, very hands-on introduction to consensus process. More of a reference work that sums up the core process tools. It doesn't give much background or insight in how other groups have used consensus. But it works well in conjunction with some key chapters from David Graeber's Direct Action: An Ethnography.

[Nataliia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew many of this things before but this helped me to sum up and structure my knowledge and skills. This book is almost an instruction — hands-on, short and easy to read. Totally gonna recommend it to my fellow activists and try using this in our organisations.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid intro to consensus decision process, corny at times.

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful, or potentially useful, clear and concise. Who wants to try this stuff out with me?

[Subvert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never interested in all these debates on decision-making and organisation until the activist groups I involved with became more than just a group of friends. Trotskists and anarchists talking over 1917 and 1936, whatever, I really don't care. But when we suddenly started having general assemblies with over a hundred people debates on organisation became highly relevant. I'm actually quite opinionated on them now and don't think consensus is always the best thing. It depends on the group and when it becomes really big with many different perspective, I don't think consensus is necessarily the best thing. I actually don't like the fetishizing of consensus decision-making that you see in some circles and that was a big thing with Occupy. But I do like and agree that the consensus process can have really emancipatory effects, that you really grow together as a group.

Anyway. Gelderloos writes really concise, so it's a quick read. I'm not sure how much I learned from it. These sort of handbooks sort of say the obvious, at the same time, sometimes you need to be reminded of that.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough! This books comes from a radical perspective which is appreciated, so the examples and obstacles encountered with consensus are useful, but as mentioned by other reviewers, this is just a primer and reference guide. Great to have one on hand, but if you have experience with consensus already, there'll be a few good things you'll take from this book, but it's too short to be anything more than that. Still glad I picked up a copy for the bookshelf. Haven't read any other books on consensus, though my girlfriend read Starhawk's 'The Empowerment Manual'and it seems to be a much more in depth book, if that's something you're looking for.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting theory but it will never work today. He has graphs and charts and everything

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good readable manual of anti-authoritarian group decision-making.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Direct Action: An Ethnography and this was cited or mentioned in there. Graeber has lots of long dialogues in his book, and kind of explains some of the elements of the kind of formal consensus practices in it as they come up. As a handbook or manual, this is concise and helpful for putting some of those things into real meetings. Gelderloos doesn't have the star status of Graeber. It's Graeber's book -- in English and German -- in public libraries. I ended up ordering this manual from a radical print shop in Arizona. Check out these hippies: https://peacesupplies.org/

Some folks decry all the in-fighting on the "left," but if it has helped us to recognize how we reproduce forms of oppression in our groups, then it has been a good thing. The kind of formal consensus Gelderloos describes here is a great way to avoid the worst of those situations, I think.

Hanging around here in Vienna, I feel like the German Language Area needs this stuff very badly. Groups here are even more homogeneous, more prone to splits, more prone to long, pointless ideological speechifying, then in North America, I believe. And don't even get me started on the so-called 'anti-deutsch.' So I would like to see more of these kinds of practices over here. I'm not sure if just getting this book and others like it translated would be enough. I think we might need workshops, and more German speakers having real experience with this stuff. I don't know. Maybe that is happening, just outside of the circles I move in.

Well, if you are in a group, any kind of group, and you are unhappy with the internal communication, try this book on for size. It's awesome.