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The end of alternative organising (just as we were getting to know it)? A conjunctural analysis of the prefiguration terrain
Culture and Organization, Pages: 1 - 20
Swansea University Author:
Matt Wilson
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© 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/14759551.2026.2619436
Abstract
The last fifteen years has seen a significant rise of interest in alternative forms of organising within CMS. Although this work covers a diverse world of organisational forms, this academic interest is commonly connected to the prefigurative turn in social movements which helped shift the radical i...
| Published in: | Culture and Organization |
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| ISSN: | 1475-9551 1477-2760 |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71501 |
| Abstract: |
The last fifteen years has seen a significant rise of interest in alternative forms of organising within CMS. Although this work covers a diverse world of organisational forms, this academic interest is commonly connected to the prefigurative turn in social movements which helped shift the radical imaginary away from electoral politics and towards strategies aimed at building a new world from the bottom-up. Yet the momentum of such movements has stalled in recent years, and a growing number of academics and activists are forcibly rejecting prefiguration. This shift in the radical imaginary is of huge importance for the future of alternative organising, and research into it, but CMS scholars appear to have overlooked it. In the following article, I argue that CMS research has too often followed a case-study approach, and that as a discipline it needs to pay closer attention to, and actively engage in, the wider landscape of radical theory and practice. Drawing on the work of Stuart Hall, I show why his use of conjunctural analysis is useful for understanding alternative organisations and their possible futures. I offer my own conjunctural perspective on the current state of prefiguration and its often fractious relationship with more vertical forms of left politics, and conclude by suggesting some ways in which we might develop work which can help inform not only the micro-practices of alternative organisations but also wider debates about the future direction of radical politics. |
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| Keywords: |
Prefiguration; alternative organising; conjunctural analysis; CMS; social movements |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Start Page: |
1 |
| End Page: |
20 |