The Commune Is the Plan

Recent years have witnessed a renaissance of radical planning in both theory and practice, but often with a persistent disconnect between the two. This article sets out from Harney and Moten’s concept of fugitive planning, adjusting it to speak to the still-colonial reality of the global South, before turning to overlooked experiments taking place in Venezuela’s communes. I argue that while grassroots planning in Venezuela mirrors all of the inherent and deepening contradictions of the Bolivarian Revolution, the self-managed socialism of the communes represents the only alternative to the perversions of oil development and the economic, social, and political crisis racking Venezuela today.