New essays published
Since my last newsletter there’s been huge progress in the microsolidarity network. I’ve overhauled the website & published 5 new essays:
Background & Introduction — introducing some of the communities who are using microsolidarity practices to create high trust networks of purposeful action.
Five Scales of Microsolidarity — the essential piece of theory, basically: groups of different sizes are good for different things.
Leadership as Hospitality — articulating a way of thinking about authority that’s non-coercive but not quite non-hierarchical.
A Developmental Pathway — a step-by-step guide to becoming the kind of person who can host a community of a couple hundred people.
From Domination to Partnership — a transformational approach to group power dynamics that’s constructive & non-oppositional.
I hope this new writing is inspiring and useful to you as a practical guide for weaving social fabric. It represents a couple months of work so I’m eager for your feedback!
Microsolidarity Network Gatherings in 2022
The really big news is we’re having the first microsolidarity gathering next month. We’ll get together for a week in Belgium, May 9-14. The event is a kind of mashup between a personal development retreat, an intensive training from some incredible professional facilitators, and an emergent unconference co-created by everyone who shows up.
See more info here & register in the next week or so because spaces are bound to fill up. Scholarships are available so don’t let money be a barrier.
We’re also planning a gathering in the USA for November. Details are to be confirmed, but you can register your interest at the bottom of the event page to make sure you receive the announcement.
Other news from the network
I’ve released a couple of new conversations with microsolidarity practitioners:
I talked with Brooke Bowman about her reflections after organising Vibecamp: a weekend gathering of 400 internet strangers that evolved into a genuine community (audio | video).
I talked with QC Yuan about his experience looking for community but winding up in a cult (audio).
Michał Korzonek keeps publishing super useful documentation from their process building community on Pico Island. The community there is graduating from emotional to economic solidarity, read all about it in Piconomics 101.
And finally, I was interviewed by ocean rower Roz Savage (audio). We talked about social change, psychedelics, religion, and why I’ve stripped out all the apocalyptic framing in the new microsolidarity writing. I think this is the best interview I’ve done, so if you listen to one podcast of mine this year, make it this one.
That’s a wrap for this issue, I have to get back on the road. I hope to see some of you in Belgium next month!