Dismantling Hierarchies

by Amy Brugh

As we navigate the novel coronavirus/covid-19, police violence, and the untenable injustices related to food and housing access, I keep coming back to hierarchies. Hierarchies uphold white supremacy and patriarchy. Hierarchies allow people at the top to retain power and turn away from any responsibility to share or give up power. If we want real, lasting change, we have to dismantle hierarchies. Some folks are way ahead of many of us. Let’s learn from people who are practicing a more just, authentic, genuine way. Let’s give it (another) try.

Merriam Webster defines hierarchy as:

“a body of persons in authority”

“the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standings”

They describe the origins of hierarchy as:

“The earliest meaning of hierarchy in English has to do with the ranks of different types of angels in the celestial order. The idea of categorizing groups according to rank readily transferred to the organization of priestly or other governmental rule.”

Why do people at the top adhere to hierarchies so tightly? To keep power in place.

How do we dismantle our hierarchies and replace them with genuine relationships, decision-making, and actions that are rooted in justice and people’s well-being?

Here are some ideas:

Identify and examine the hierarchies in your own life

Do an audit of the hierarchies in your own life. How does your workplace function? How is your family unit set up? How do the social and community groups in which you are involved talk, create, plans, make decisions, and take actions? Make a list and chart out the people, their roles, and the systems and norms that uphold hierarchies in your own life.

Learn more about other ways of shared leadership and decision-making

If there are examples of relationships and community in your life that are not based in hierarchy, learn how this came about and why. Share these examples with others.

If you don’t have any non-hierarchical examples in your life, seek some out.

Commit to dismantling a hierarchy in your own life

Choose a group you examined from your audit, whether it’s a social group, your family, or your work. Consider who else might join you on a journey to create new ways of shared conversation, consensus-building, mutual relationships, and decision-making.

Call on others to challenge hierarchies

In my work with nonprofits, I experience challenges with hierarchies all the time. I share my approach to facilitation, planning, and interim staffing clearly and directly. I let clients know that I try to do this work through building relationships and consensus. I let leaders within organizations know that I won’t be telling people what to do, and that instead I will help them figure out what they want and need to do themselves. This doesn’t always go so well. I find myself falling back on hierarchies again and again. I’ll keep at it. Who can you call on in your own personal or professional lives to examine, challenge, and dismantle hierarchies?