Cartels

A cartel is a small group that forms around a shared guiding question—a few members who work a question together for a while, in the Lacanian tradition of the cartel and its plus-one. Cartels form on the members’ own cadence, any time; they don’t wait on the seminar calendar.

Forming a cartel

Any member can propose one. Go to Propose a cartel (or the “Propose a cartel” button on the Cartels page) and give it a name, the guiding question it forms around, and—optionally—a few members you’d like to invite.

A proposal goes to the Program Committee, which reviews it; the Cartel Coordinator may add advisory feedback. Once approved, the cartel opens. A declined proposal can be edited and resubmitted.

The plus-one

Every cartel has a plus-one—the function, distinct from the working members, that attends to the cartel’s relation to its own question and to the School. A cartel has one internal plus-one (a member in that role) and may also recognize an external plus-one as a guest.

Joining

Once a cartel is open, there are two ways in:

• By invitation—the members who were invited at proposal time accept and join directly.
• By application—any member can ask to join an open cartel (with a short message); the cartel’s current members review and accept or decline.

Members can also close a cartel to new applications when it’s full.

The workspace

An open cartel has its own shared space, reached from the Cartels page. It gathers the group’s work in one place: a discussion channel and live chat, shared documents, files, a schedule for meetings, a decisions register, and tasks—plus the roster.

Cartels are leaderless: there’s no lead role, so the group runs itself. Any member can edit the cartel’s details, record a decision, and manage the shared work.

Where cartels appear

• The Program lists the cartels active in each academic year, with their guiding questions.
• The Cartels page shows the cartels you belong to and lets you browse and propose.

A cartel’s name and guiding question are visible to members; its roster, posts, and files stay private to the cartel.