Leaderless resistance

Leaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a social resistance strategy in which small, independent groups (covert cells), including individuals (a solo cell called a "Lone Wolf"), challenge an established institution such as a law, economic system, social order, government, et cetera. Leaderless resistance can encompass anything from non-violent protest and civil disobedience to vandalism, terrorism and other violent activity. Leaderless cells lack bidirectional, vertical command links and operate without hierarchal command. While it lacks a central command, the concept includes a common goal between the individual actor and the group or social movement from which the ideology was learned.

Given the simplicity of the strategy, as well as the fact that it is difficult to stamp out, leaderless resistance has been employed by a wide range of movements, including animal-liberation, radical environmentalist, anti-abortion activist, military invasion resistance, colonialism resistance, terrorist, and hate groups.

A typical covert cell can be a lone individual or a small group. The basic characteristic of the structure is that there is no explicit communication between cells which are otherwise acting toward the same goals. Members of one cell usually have little or no specific information on who else is agitating on behalf of their cause.

Leaderless movements may have a symbolic figurehead. This can be a public figure or an inspirational author, who picks generic targets and objectives, but does not actually manage or execute plans. Media, in this case, often create a positive feedback loop: the publishing of declarations of a movement’s role model instills motivation, ideas and assumed sympathy in the minds of potential agitators who lend further authority to the figurehead. While this may be loosely viewed as a vertical command structure, it is notably unidirectional: a titular leader makes pronouncements, and activists may respond, but there is no established contact between the two levels of organization.

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