Top all-time · #424
Jo Freeman
Personal blog · jofreeman.compoliticshistory
Jo Freeman's personal blog at jofreeman.com covers politics and history. Since 2009, 131 different Hacker News readers have linked it 158 times, most often “The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970)”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Often recommended · 18 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Jo Freeman's essay 'The Tyranny of Structurelessness' on how informal hierarchies form in groups that claim to have none; comments often call it a classic to read.
- Recommended for · 18 comments
- Called worth reading, one of the best essays read, excellent, fantastic, a classic and timeless.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Jo Freeman is a well-known feminist scholar, teacher, speaker and author. Browse her articles or purchase her books online.
Most-linked posts?
- The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970)83 people · 99 mentions · first linked 2018-07-11
- The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1972)46 people · 51 mentions · first linked 2009-12-28
- Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood (1976)5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2019-06-11
What Hacker News says?
I think this is something that we in tech need to discuss a loooot more. Decades ago, it seemed that there were far more people in tech that were in experimental communities that explored these power relations better. These days, we are all a lot more normie. Sure, some people still go to Burning Man, but when was the last true co-op member you knew in a tech company? It seems so less frequent these days. We should…
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970) as a story · 387 points
HN discussionAs if “hypocricy” was the worst possible offense. If you remove government, who will then stop other monopolies from forming in their place? Government is what all governed people, in aggregate, decide should be common principles. If they are not to your liking, then you can either leave or advocate for (often slow and gradual) change. It is often said that people get the governent they deserve; i.e. the problem (if…
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “uBlock Origin works best on Firefox”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1973) as a story · 115 points
HN discussion> After following some "dark enlightenment" people on Twitter and libertarians with a subset of very far right viewpoints, it's becoming clear that lots of these people claim to want "freedom," but what they really want is freedom from the existing power hierarchies, and to create new ones in which they are on top again. The linked essay explicitly makes the point that in the absence of formalised structures, power…
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “100 years of whatever this will be”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970) as a story · 108 points
HN discussionThe essay linked in the article is absolutely spot on when talking about the dynamics of groups with formalised structures vs those that are decentralised, it's well worth a read. https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “100 years of whatever this will be”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1972) as a story · 98 points
HN discussion> I find myself linking to this article way too much lately, but here it is again: The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman. You should read it. The summary is that in any system, if you don't have an explicit hierarchy, then you have an implicit one. All hierarchies are structures but not all structures are hierarchies. I'm not sure Jo Freeman argues for explicit hierarchy. CTRL-F the article. Structure - 92…
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “100 years of whatever this will be”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness as a story · 36 points
HN discussionThe Tyranny of Structurelessness. My shallow interpretation of it is essentially: wherever there's a group of people, there's politics. https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness as a story · 28 points
HN discussionsounds like it was this: https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “People Aren’t Dumb, the World Is Hard”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970) as a story · 26 points
HN discussionThe tyranny of structurelessness https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm This isn't about valve specifically
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “Helping Valve to power up Steam devices”Submitted Jo Freeman's the Tyranny of Structurelessness (Recommended by Mark Andreesen) as a story · 5 points
HN discussionhttps://www.wired.com/2014/03/tyranny-flatness/ refers to the 1972 essay The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman. http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm Nothing new under the sun.
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “A Career Cold Start Algorithm”Submitted Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood (1976) as a story · 5 points
HN discussionThe Jo Freeman article was written in retrospect to her own experiences with the feminist movement in the 1960s - she has another article - "Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood" - that I think illustrates very well that in spite of her belief of the movement, she had been hurt by its methodology (which was by no means exclusive to the feminist movement, as we see here) and not to mention was in no position to be a…
Comment linking /joreen/trashing.htm
on “No Kings: How Do You Make Good Decisions Efficiently in a Flat Organization?”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1972) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI would like to refer to the following - The Tyranny of Structurelessness, originally meant to address the concerns regarding 'flat' organizations. "This means that to strive for a structureless group is as useful, and as deceptive, as to aim at an "objective" news story, "value-free" social science, or a "free" economy. A "laissez faire" group is about as realistic as a "laissez faire" society; the idea becomes a s…
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “No Kings: How Do You Make Good Decisions Efficiently in a Flat Organization?”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970) as a story · 3 points
HN discussion> when groups become to large people vie for attention which causes the most egoic people to try and dominate the areas that they are in. You may be interested in this essay from the feminist movement in the 60s: https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm . It describes how the lack of structure or process forces the group to be run primarily by social dynamics like friendship, charm and influence. There are lots…
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “Engineered Addictions”Submitted Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI like to think of it in terms of power vacuums. A power vacuum will be filled. Do we chose to fill it with thoughtful intent, or do we allow it to fill itself with whomever or whatever it pleases? One of my favorite pieces: https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “A Solution for Loneliness: Get out and volunteer, research suggests”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1972) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionhttps://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm This paper is ever important when trying to come up with technical solutions to societal organization.
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “Ethereum Plans to Cut Its Energy Consumption by 99 Percent”Submitted The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1972) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionReminds me of "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" [0] https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Comment linking /joreen/tyranny.htm
on “Don't avoid workplace politics”Submitted The Dark Side of Sisterhood (1976) as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
