Prefiguration

Back in 2020 I was discussing the out-of-print novel Albion by Brenda Vale and musing on what I’d taken from it, and I wrote:

The problem with modern democracy is that it has thoroughly convinced everyone that you only get one chance to improve society every five years.

Didn’t succeed this time? You’ll have to wait another five years before you can try again - that’s the rules.

The way to start to change society is to just do it, not to wait for an election (or revolution), nor to wait for someone else to do it. There’ll be no Big Event that signals your permission to start making the world better, and even if there was you wouldn’t be able to afford a ticket anyway, as most of them would have been given to VIPs via corporate hospitality before they went on general sale.

…

The concept of starting to build a new potential future outside of the current social structures (while using the resources available) intrigues me. The idea of creating networks, communities (by which I mean strong social links between people rather than actual physical communities), sharing ideas and skills and expertise, setting up lines of communication (online, zines, real-life meet-ups) is a necessity for any better potential future unless you’re happy with how things are now. It is, if nothing else, a starting point for doing something worthwhile.

And only a few days ago—a bit late, because I don’t tend to read much anarchist theory—I finally learnt what this process was called: prefiguration.

In a post called Building Tomorrow Today the Peaceful Revolutionary explains:

Across the British Isles and beyond, ordinary people are quietly building extraordinary alternatives to the world of bosses, rent, and wage labour. From worker cooperatives in the industrial North to intentional communities in the Welsh hills, from radical social centres in major cities to transition towns in rural England, a network of communities is demonstrating that another way of organising society isn't just possible, it's already happening. Likewise inspiring American alternatives are showing a better way is possible, even in the midst of rising housing costs, precarious employment, and fraying social safety nets.

These communities aren't waiting for permission to create change. Instead, they're constructing what theorists call ‘prefiguration’ or ‘dual power’, building new institutions alongside existing ones, gradually absorbing their functions whilst proving that people can govern themselves without hierarchy or exploitation.

…and goes on to list many real-world examples, which form a very useful resource for all of us.