Collective Action Design

Collective Action Design

A skill for structuring movements and actions to survive arrest, prevent individual capture, and enable ongoing resistance through collective identity.

When to Use

• When authorities target individuals to destroy movements
• When actions need to continue regardless of who is arrested
• When preventing celebrity or leader-dependence
• When enabling others to participate anonymously

Inputs

Workflow

Step 1: Phase 1: Design for Replaceability

Create roles that anyone can fill:

• No single person is essential
• Knowledge is distributed, not centralized
• Skills can be learned quickly
• The form persists regardless of personnel

If arresting any individual would end the movement, the design is flawed.

Step 2: Phase 2: Create Collective Identity

Develop markers that transfer:

• Visual signature (balaclavas, masks, colors)
• Name that anyone can claim
• Manifesto or principles that define membership
• Actions that constitute belonging

"If you do X, you are one of us" - this should be clear and accessible.

Step 3: Phase 3: Decentralize Operations

Prevent single points of failure:

• Multiple communication channels
• No central headquarters
• Distributed decision-making
• Local autonomy within shared principles

If they raid any location, most of the network remains intact.

Step 4: Phase 4: Enable Proliferation

Make it easy for new cells to form:

• Publish your methods openly
• Create toolkits and templates
• Encourage adaptation to local conditions
• Celebrate when others use your name/methods

Growth through replication, not recruitment.

Step 5: Phase 5: Plan for Arrests

Arrest should strengthen, not destroy:

• Arrested members become symbols
• Legal support ready immediately
• Public narrative prepared
• Remaining members continue seamlessly

The authorities should learn that arrest creates more, not fewer, participants.

Output Format

A collective action design including:

1. Core identity elements (name, visual, principles)
2. Role structure and replaceability
3. Communication and decision architecture
4. Proliferation toolkit
5. Arrest response protocol
6. Success metrics that don't depend on individuals

Constraints

• Security culture must balance openness with protection
• Decentralization can mean incoherence - maintain clear principles
• Not all movements benefit from anonymity
• Legal implications vary by jurisdiction
• Some actions require coordination that decentralization makes difficult

Outputs

Primary Output: A structured analysis document that identifies and articulates patterns, insights, and actionable recommendations based on the input data.

Format:

## Analysis: [Topic]

### Key Findings
- [Finding 1]
- [Finding 2]
- [Finding 3]

### Recommendations
1. [Action 1]
2. [Action 2]
3. [Action 3]

Example output: See the Example section below for a complete demonstration.

Additional Notes

Best practices:

• Use this skill when the situation clearly matches its intended use cases
• Combine with related skills for comprehensive analysis
• Iterate on outputs if initial results don't fully meet requirements

Common variations:

• Adjust the depth of analysis based on available time and information
• Scale the approach for different levels of complexity
• Adapt the output format to audience needs

When to skip this skill:

• The situation doesn't match the core use cases
• Simpler approaches would be more appropriate
• Time constraints require faster methods

Example

Input: Design a collective for ongoing environmental direct action

Output: "Identity: 'Coral' - members wear pink/orange and leave coral symbols. Anyone who takes nonviolent direct action for ocean protection under this name is Coral. Role structure: Action teams of 3-7 form autonomously, communicate through encrypted channels, share experience through anonymous reports. No central coordination - shared timing comes through public calls to action. Communication: Each team maintains no more than 2-3 contacts with other teams. Website publishes action reports and how-to guides, maintained from multiple locations. Proliferation: Complete action toolkit online: how to plan action, legal briefing, media templates, pink/orange dress code, coral symbol stencils. Arrest protocol: Every participant carries legal observer number. Statement ready: 'I am Coral. There are many of us.' Arrested members celebrated as 'the coral who bleached but strengthened the reef.' New participants explicitly recruited when anyone is arrested."

Integration

Works with:

• punk-accessibility: Low barriers enable collective structure
• spectacular-transgression: Collective identity protects individual transgressors
• surveillance-inversion: Collective identity frustrates surveillance targeting