Regarding missing alternatives to the GS _term_.
2013/8/30 John Vandenberg <jayvdb(a)gmail.com>
'Global Strategy countries'?
I think this aligns with the intention of GS, which is to support
initiatives that help make our movement more global by investing in
areas/languages where editors and/or readers is low but potential is high.
I tend to say that it's not about areas/languages but about the challenges
mentioned in Asaf's slides. "Global" -- in my opinion -- is a term that
emphasizes _unifying_ aspects of a subject. At its core the GS initiative
is about conditions (re: WP, accessing and contributing) that are
_different_ between certain areas of the world and others. That's why
"global" won't do the trick. The "challenges: factors" section in
Asaf's
slides suggests that this difference has its roots in
* limited access to the internet and to materials,
* diglossia and other language issues,
* financial, political and cultural limitations.
...all of which are social issues (<-- terribly unscientifc
oversimplification alert). In other words: The challenges have nothing to
do with latitude (or longitude) but have an inherently social nature. Thus,
there may not be a need to find a geographical label at all. What matters
is a priority list which determines in which countries support is both
highly necessary and most likely to be effective. With the countries listed
in the aforementioned slides the WMF has such a list. I guess if
Greenland[1] met the priority criteria (showing a huge community potential,
having web access issues and specific cultural issues, and so on and so
forth), it would probably make the priority list, wouldn't it? My point is:
An alternative term for "global south" could be something based on _what_
is addressed instead of _where_ things are addressed. Could be something in
the direction of "Social Access Initiative" or the like. (Really, just an
example for illustration purposes, I won't defend it :-)
Best,
Michael Jahn
[1] My apologies to Greenland. I know nothing about you, except that you're
way up north! It's a shame. Don't mean to insult you.
John Vandenberg.
sent from Galaxy Note
On Aug 30, 2013 11:42 AM, "Balázs Viczián" <balazs.viczian(a)wikimedia.hu>
wrote:
What about making it simply global...?
Balázs
2013.08.30. 2:44, "Asaf Bartov" <abartov(a)wikimedia.org> ezt írta:
> On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 5:30 PM, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > The first section was removed? I got excited to see the term "Global
> > South" with a line through it (in the agenda index), but I think I
> > initially misunderstood its meaning.
>
>
> No, the strikethrough was a visual cue that the _term_ "Global South"
is
emphatically not on the agenda.
The term "Global South" is pretty
awful and deserves a quick death.
Agreed...
But based on the title of the
presentation and this e-mail thread... I'm not hopeful that it's dead
yet.
...but what do we replace it with? This has been rehashed quite a bit,
but
no one has come up with a compelling alternative
that's reasonably
concise
and is politically acceptable. (Personally I am
happy with "developing
world" and "developing nations", but of course those terms are
euphemistic
> as well, and apparently no longer acceptable in some circles.)
>
> I have stated before that the term, for us, is just shorthand for a
list
of
> countries, and we make no essentialist assumptions about some
uniformity
> throughout all these countries. It is my
understanding that most of
the
consternation (kittens dying etc.) the term causes is due to the
assumption
that we _are_ making an essentialist assumption
and treating all GS
countries the same. I hope it is by now evident we are not.
Once again, I find no point to debating this. All who _are_ interested
are
welcome to hash it out somewhere, and submit a
consensual term (or a
shortlist) to WMF for consideration. If a superior term arises, I
promise
> to make an effort to adopt it across WMF. Until then, let's focus on
the
> actual work rather than the nomenclature.
>
>
> > I'm a little confused about whether the ongoing programs in Brazil
and
>
India will continue. There's a note that reads "No WMF contractors on
the
> > ground any more", but it's unclear whether this means a
discontinuation
of
> the current folks. And the final slides focus on future engagements.
Does
> > the "no contractors on the ground" line mean only full-time staff
will
be
> > working with (engaging with, if you prefer) areas in the future?
> Full-time
> > staff and local chapter folks, I guess? And simply no Wikimedia
> Foundation
> > contractors?
> >
>
> There are no WMF employees outside the US, so "no contractors on the
> ground" (in the GS context -- we still have engineers around the
world!)
means
that (once the Brazil transition is complete -- this is in
progress),
> no program work in the GS will be done by WMF contractors, but only by
> local partners (movement affiliates -- chapters, thematic
organizations,
> and user groups -- and unaffiliated
partners), some of whom would be
WMF
> grantees.
>
> Cheers,
>
> A.
> --
> Asaf Bartov
> Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the
sum of
all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list
Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
<mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list
Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
<mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list
Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
<mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
--
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Obentrautstraße 72 | 10963 Berlin
Tel. (030) 219 158 260
<http://www.wikimedia.de>
Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch freien Zugang zu der
Gesamtheit des Wissens der Menschheit hat. Helfen Sie uns dabei!
*Helfen Sie mit, dass WIKIPEDIA von der UNESCO als erstes digitales
Weltkulturerbe anerkannt wird. Unterzeichnen Sie die Online-Petition:*
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.