Decisions Without Hierarchy

THREE

Non-Hierarchy

As indicated in the first two chapters, organizations stemming from the critical perspective have received less attention within the literature than those flowing from the dominant perspective. Attempting to operate in the absence of hierarchy, rather than simply by reducing hierarchy, these organizations have deviated from mainstream notions of structure.¹ They operate primarily through a consensual decision-making process, which means that after an issue has been discussed by organization members, “one or more members of the assembly sum up prevailing sentiment, and if no objections are voiced, this becomes agreed-on policy.”² While this type of organization has been referred to as collectivist or cooperative, the term ...