harbinger reviewed Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
Review of 'Emergent strategy' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Unprincipled, haphazard word salad. Her arguments would have been much, much stronger if she actually included much of the primary source from Octavia Butler that she reports considering having included.
To the extent that this is legible at all, it appears to be some random thoughts along her path from an authoritarian, self-centered “executive” director of a white male hierarchy to a slightly less authoritarian, somehow even more self-centered “executive” director of a more diverse hierarchy.
It’s often not legible, and essentially mystifies where it’s entirely unneeded to do so. It’s like a magician demonstrating bricklaying by waving a wand and then dropping a brick with a thud. Like ok, maybe let’s learn from bricklayers instead? She talks about fractals as a way to encourage non-hierarchical organizing, but why don’t we just look at the practical reality rather than some occult symbolism?
She also has quite a few quotes that …
Unprincipled, haphazard word salad. Her arguments would have been much, much stronger if she actually included much of the primary source from Octavia Butler that she reports considering having included.
To the extent that this is legible at all, it appears to be some random thoughts along her path from an authoritarian, self-centered “executive” director of a white male hierarchy to a slightly less authoritarian, somehow even more self-centered “executive” director of a more diverse hierarchy.
It’s often not legible, and essentially mystifies where it’s entirely unneeded to do so. It’s like a magician demonstrating bricklaying by waving a wand and then dropping a brick with a thud. Like ok, maybe let’s learn from bricklayers instead? She talks about fractals as a way to encourage non-hierarchical organizing, but why don’t we just look at the practical reality rather than some occult symbolism?
She also has quite a few quotes that sound pretty similar to “diverse oppressors,” like when she says leadership needs to be black and female. This makes sense, though, as a black female executive.
Essentially, it’s a laughably indirect, rambling, and inconsistent navel-gazing “look at me I’m so good” story about how she moved an org from being patriarchal and white to being matriarchal and nonwhite. Which, cool if that’s your bag, but it helps pretty much no one else beyond the new matriarch. It’s like hearing someone talk about their bowel movement. Good for you, but explain how that helps anyone else?