Both or Neither? Rethinking the vertical and the horizontal in political organisation

In this article, I review Kioupkiolis and Nunes’ works on political organisation, The common and counter-hegemonic politics, and Neither vertical nor horizontal and askwhat they might offer in relation to prefigurative politics and the problem of how to create sustainable, long-lasting, and widespread social and political change. I use Raekstad and Gradin’s framework of prefigurative politics to situate both theorists’ contributions, in particular to questions of strategy. Prefigurative practices are generally horizontally based, and while neither Kioupkiolis nor Nunes directly address prefigurative politics in detail, both discuss horizontal and vertical political logics in ways which are highly relevant to discussions about prefiguration and social change. In particular, Kioupkiolis and Nunes both separately address a key blind spot in prefigurative politics as set out by Raekstad and Gradin, that is, of strategic coordination. This is crucial for thinking about widespread change. However, it is also important to recognise the strategic nature of prefigurative practice itself.