Iron law of oligarchy

[The pizza crazed Anarchist]

How to refute the Iron law of oligarchy theory from an anarchist perspective but any other leftist perspective is welcome.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Two that I've read:

1) The theory is excessively deterministic and teleogical, and does not take into account that, while democratic currents can become oligarchic, the possibility also exists for oligarchic currents to develop into more democratic ones, due to changing external factors. (For example, Jürgen Kocka's theories about how authoritarian regimes give way to more democratic demands as the capitalist economy becomes more advanced and an educated "middle-class" strata develops).

2) Robert Michels did not take into account the ways that, say, a rank-and-file of a democratic syndicalist union kept oligarchic tendencies in check.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I actually do think that there's a fair deal of truth to the theory, though, in that there's a powerful tendency amoung groups or movements that start out in a relatively democratic fashion to be dominated by a handful of personalities. You can see this in a lot of left-wing organizations today, and throughout history.

The good news is that these tendencies can be recognized and acted against, and that there's no such thing as an "iron law" in interpretive social science. Also, the creator of this theory became a fascist sympathizer later in life, so take it all with a grain of salt. :cool: