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@googlemail.com To: UK Wikimedia mailing list wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] WMF withdraws support from WCA Message-ID: CADvxJeF0EbeCC4wF__rZXxjs3kfxfPRnD3YqRhma=PMq+U9KoQ@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@gmail.com wrote:
On 6 February 2013 21:07, Andrew Turvey andrewrturvey@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I see the Foundation has withdrawn their support for the Wikimedia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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