Hi all,
I think it is perhaps part of their rhetorical stance that the WMF is
happy to be seen as "withdrawing support" from a new organisation which
did not require their support.
The WMF may well be happy with its role as a central organisation with
power radiating out to the chapters it recognises, and clearly an
effective WCA would constitute a rival structure which would create a more
federative power structure running parallel to their own, and also
parallel to the more distributed networks which exist within the
Wikimediasphere.
Andrew's question has another aspect: has the WMF's action damaged the
Foundation's relation with the chapter?
Indeed, we can expect a range of opinions, but the underlying question is
do we wish to rely on a centralised network of power based on the WMF, or
would we prefer this to be tempered by a federated power linking the
chapters in an essentially bi-cameral structure.
I think this has serious consequences for the Wikimedia community, even if
these may not come to a head for some time. In this context, I am
disappointed that the WMF seem to have acted by fiat, and I do not think
we should respond with undue deference to them.
As the Chapters function within different judicial zones in a context of
the globalisation of the knowledge economy, and their organisation runs in
a parallel but quite distinct to the organisation of the Wikimedia
projects themselves - which are based on language rather than geography, I
feel there is a lot to consider.
In light of this, I see the decision of the WCA to move forward and
develop its own infra-structure as something which can only be beneficial.
all the best
Fabian
(User:Leutha)
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 23:08:44 +0000
> From: Andrew Turvey <andrewrturvey(a)googlemail.com>
> To: UK Wikimedia mailing list <wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] WMF withdraws support from WCA
> Message-ID:
> <CADvxJeF0EbeCC4wF__rZXxjs3kfxfPRnD3YqRhma=PMq+U9KoQ(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> That's an interesting way of putting it! However, now that the WMF has
> come
> out against, is there any way that the WCA can fulfill its stated aims?
> Furthermore, if WMUK continues to support the WCA, will this damage the
> chapter's relationship with the Foundation?
> On Feb 6, 2013 9:12 PM, "Thomas Dalton" <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>
>> On 6 February 2013 21:07, Andrew Turvey <andrewrturvey(a)googlemail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > I see the Foundation has withdrawn their support for the Wikimedia
>> Chapters
>> > Association, the cross-chapters partnership that WMUK backed.
>>
>> To be honest, it never really offered any support in the first
>> place... they said they liked the idea, but that's as far as it got.
>> They haven't withdrawn their support, they've said they aren't going
>> to be giving any support - subtly different!
>>
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>>
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>> WMUK:
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>>
>