Everything for Everyone
Autonomous is a community-led collective in Philadelphia working to build and sustain classless social relations within and between communities. At Autonomous, "class" means any structural difference in social, political, or economic power — not only economic class. Our mission is to enhance the capacity of communities for mutual aid, self-determination, and resilience so people can meet their own needs and govern their own lives without bosses, landlords, or top-down institutions.
Unlike traditional organizations focused on growing their own brand or membership roster, Autonomous functions as a catalyst — working alongside our neighbors to break down interlocking systems of oppression by building concrete, everyday alternatives.
Through careful reflection, there is clearer understanding. Like the contours and colors of a map, situated knowledge guides our collective strategy without constricting how people act on the ground.
What Is an Autonomous Base Collective?
Every social system relies on a base — the shared foundation of skills, resources, spaces, and relationships a community draws on to sustain itself and take action. An Autonomous Base Collective (ABC) is an organized, self-determining community group dedicated to growing and defending that local base.
As the founding ABC in Philadelphia, Autonomous serves two connected roles at once:
1. Local Generalist Base
We work directly on the ground in Philadelphia neighborhoods across multiple areas of everyday life — from food, shared tools, and conflict resolution to community research and popular education.
2. Network & Fostering Base
We develop shared methods, open-source software (the Catalytic Resource Planner and CMMNS), and five-stage fostering guides so emerging groups can build their own independent ABCs.
A Machine With Many Moving Parts: Tasks Without Ranks
Not everyone performs the same task at the same time, but every task contributes to the same effort. Because our membership is completely without stratification, there are no formal ranks, bosses, or tiers of power. Groupings are based strictly on tasks:
Our 12 Core Principles
Every Autonomous project, method, and partnership is grounded in these twelve shared commitments:
Autonomist
We organize ourselves directly through mutual aid and collective action, outside state and corporate control.
Decentralized
We distribute power, skills, and decision-making across horizontal networks rather than concentrating authority at the top.
Non-Capitalist
We value resources and labor for how they meet human and ecological needs (use-value), never for financial profit or market exchange.
Participatory Governance
We make decisions collaboratively without bosses or hierarchy, matching the scope of each decision to the people affected by it.
Enhancing Community Capacity
We measure success by whether neighbors gain the practical skills, tools, and confidence to run their own systems without depending on us.
Building Classless Relations
We actively dismantle all structural differences in social, political, and economic power across wealth, race, gender, and ability.
Anti-Oppression & Intersectionality
We challenge all interlocking systems of oppression at once, recognizing that none of us are free until all of us are free.
Human-Centered
We choose and build technologies and workflows that support human relationships and well-being rather than pacing people like machines.
Principled Praxis
We connect theory and action in a continuous loop — Theory & Intention -> Action -> Critical Reflection -> Adaptation.
Accessibility & Inclusion
Informed by Disability Justice, we design our physical spaces, media, and written guides from the start so everyone can participate fully.
Trust & Transparency
We keep our methods, research findings, and internal decision records open and inspectable so communities can learn from and scrutinize our work.
Resisting Co-option
We guard our independence against being absorbed into electoral party politics, nonprofit-industrial charity models, or commercial market logics.
Who We Serve & How Membership Works
Open Public Benefit — Free of Charge to All
Everything Autonomous produces is built for the public commons. All of our educational guides, methods (METHOD-*), research publications, public workshops, digital platforms (CMMNS), and mutual aid programs are provided to the general public completely free of charge.
We never charge fees for our services, and we never select beneficiaries on a discriminatory or member-only basis. Direct mutual aid and community support are prioritized strictly by self-identified need and neighborhood capacity. You never need to be a member of Autonomous to request support, attend a public event, use our methods, or collaborate with us.
Why Core Membership Is Closed & Invitation-Only
While our programs and tools are open to everyone, the core governance collective of Autonomous is closed and invitation-only. Because every member holds equal consensus decision-making power and full stewardship over our resources without bosses or probationary ranks, membership rests on deep trust proven in real work:
Our Members, Collaborative Authorship & Public Verification
Unlike traditional organizations that measure success by how large their membership roster grows, Autonomous operates as a catalyst. With shared methods, disciplined standards, and sovereign tools like our Catalytic Resource Planner (CRP), a focused collective of peers in Philadelphia can catalyze neighborhood-wide self-determination without ever becoming a top-down bureaucracy.
Because our membership is completely unstratified — with zero bosses, ranks, or "featured" VIPs — we do not spotlight a select handful of members on this page. Instead, our dedicated Collective Members & Public Verification Directory (/members) celebrates every inducted member equally, links to their individual profiles of collaborative publications and active projects, and lets neighbors verify anyone holding an active Autonomous Mandate.
Because our core collective is closed and invitation-only, every inducted member carries a W3C Decentralized Identifier (
did:web:autonomousabc.org:member:*), an Ed25519-signed Verifiable Credential (VC), and ratified Mandates on /members.Collaborative Authorship:
Like scientific research teams, Autonomous publishes methods, field reports, and software as collaborative working groups. Each member's profile catalogs their co-authored works and stewarded projects.
How Our Websites & Platforms Fit Together
To keep AutonomousABC.org focused and sustainable, we divide responsibilities cleanly across three connected domains (hover or tap any card to flip):
AutonomousABC.org
Founding Philadelphia ABC Base & Public Front DoorLocal Philadelphia Praxis
Introduces Autonomous, publishes our unified Dispatches & Methods stream (/posts), communicates active Projects and Events, and routes neighbors, volunteers, and partner groups through our Three-Spoke Contact Hub.ABCNetwork.info
Federated Network Hub & ABC Fostering PortalThe Autonomous Network Protocol
Hosts the ratified Network Protocol, the directory of federated Geographic, Social, Specialist, and Generalist ABCs, and the five-stage guides for communities fostering their own ABC.Mutuali.net & CMMNS.io
Federated Social Layer & Catalytic Resource Planner (CRP)Digital Commons & Frappe v16.50 CRP
Provides our non-extractive social network (two-way mutual connections, public subscriptions without follower counts, customizable feed Moods) and the Frappe v16.50 Catalytic Resource Planner (crp).Autonomous ABC is a Pennsylvania nonstock nonprofit corporation (PA Entity No.
0014755717) recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (EIN: 39-4044997). The organization is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes. No part of its net earnings inures to the benefit of any private member, director, or individual. Autonomous ABC is strictly nonpartisan and does not participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.In accordance with Article II of the Bylaws of Autonomous ABC, ultimate governing authority is vested in the collective Membership, and the Administrative Board of Directors acts strictly as a logistical and fiduciary agent executing the consensus decisions of the Membership. Governing documents, our IRS Determination Letter, and annual Form 990 filings are available for public inspection upon request via cmmns@autonomousabc.org.