Strategies for Distributed and Collective Action

How do we organize ourselves to accomplish shared goals? Our well-worn modes of collective action—from markets to hierarchies, from institutions to movements—have so far provided a limited vocabulary to investigate, let alone invent, new forms of open, networked, and trans-sectoral collaboration. Yet new forms of collective action are continually emerging, defined by openness, polycentricity, and plurality while still strategic and goal-oriented. Martin Kornberger pursues these experimental models to offer a vocabulary for the hitherto “untapped capability” to organize and strategize distributed and collective action. He introduces a novel set of concepts including shared concerns, symbols, interface designs, participatory architectures, evaluative infrastructures, network strategy, and leading as diplomacy, which together combine goal-orientated, purposeful action with scale, openness, and creativity. With a new vocabulary we can explore alternative ways of thinking and strategies to address the significant challenges and crises of our times.