Guerilla Gardening Gone Off the Rails

[Alex Rollin]

There is a place for leadership.  I just received another update to my
recent post.

http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/2010-August/010301.html

Tough rough stuff.  Perhaps there is enough there to inform your research.
 Any advice on how to proceed is welcome.

Alex

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 2:54 PM, Anne Moreland
<judithdaviestripp at gmail.com>wrote:

> Gated Virtual Communities and the Exercise of Coercive Power = Comply or
> get out. Written policies need to be in place to curtail the arbitrary
> exercise of coercive power. Almost every relationship can become a power
> play at one point or another. The ones who have the power to impose their
> will upon others by whatever means become instruments of oppression over
> time.
> I will be glad to research this topic since the problems of injustice
> associated with binary relationships defined as subjugator and subjugated
> are endemic.
> j
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 6:33 AM, Alex Rollin <alex.rollin at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> I appreciate your interest in getting involved.  I also see the inequality
>> as part of the problem.
>>
>> Please feel free to let me know how I can be of assistance in your
>> contemplation of this situation within which I find myself.
>>
>> Perhaps you are aware of research on the subject.
>>
>> A
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 1:24 PM, Anne Moreland <
>> judithdaviestripp at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Alex,
>>> Inequalities in power distribution usually results in the nemesis of
>>> democratic oganization. I would like to be of assistance. I think what you
>>> are wantring to address is crucial.
>>> j
>>>
>>> On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 5:14 AM, Alex Rollin <alex.rollin at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello friends,
>>>>
>>>> I've been involved in a horrific (for me) "speaking truth to
>>>> power" exercise this month.
>>>>
>>>> You can see the archive in public!
>>>>
>>>> http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/2010-August/thread.html
>>>>
>>>> The main participants in the thread are Michel Bauwens and myself, Alex
>>>> Rollin.
>>>>
>>>> Michel is a founding member of the P2P Foundation and sits on the board.
>>>>  He has taken issue with me, and sees my wishes to engage in some sort of
>>>> official conflict resolution procedure as a power grab and a threat
>>>> (paraphrasing).  I am under threat of being banned from the community and
>>>> could lose some access to 774 pages of work I've done on the wiki.
>>>>
>>>> My requests:
>>>>
>>>> 1.  that the board of the P2P Foundation put some policy in place that
>>>> outlines the rights of the users of the P2P Foundation website.  (Users have
>>>> no rights and can be banned/deleted ad hoc.)
>>>>
>>>> 2.  That one of these rights be access to a conflict resolution
>>>> procedure; a procedure which has Foundation policy as the backbone.
>>>>  (Currently there is no policy at all.)
>>>>
>>>> 3.  That the officials of the Foundation develop some "Pledge
>>>> of Commitment" that says, basically, that hey will use a process to handle
>>>> conflict and abstain from the exercise of official power when they are
>>>> involved in the conflict.  (Wikipedia has one like this here
>>>> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Pledge_of_personal_commitment )
>>>>
>>>> My concern:
>>>>
>>>> I am concerned that users who watch the use of power exercised as a
>>>> personal warfare by board officials of the foundation, power that can ban
>>>> and dismiss ad hoc, that individual users become less and less willing to
>>>> participate, and finally become silent.  I contend that this type of
>>>> behavior, of banning people for having ideas and wishes, is deserving of
>>>> some reigning in.  (Read about the Foundation here if you like
>>>> http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Foundation:About )
>>>>
>>>> My request to you:
>>>>
>>>> A member of the board does not see this process of "silencing"
>>>> happening, as such, and would appreciate some feedback on the subject.  He
>>>> has asked me to collect letters from people about their feelings on this
>>>> dynamic of the exercise of power, and has promised to respect whatever
>>>> confidentiality the authors request.  His names is James Burke,
>>>> lifesized at gmail.com .
>>>>
>>>> My disclosure:
>>>>
>>>> I realize that, if you look at the link above you will see an incredible
>>>> amount of information.  In fact, this is the ugliest, nastiest discussion I
>>>> have ever had the public pleasure of participating in.  I have made
>>>> mistakes, and I have done my best, and I am currently silent under the
>>>> threat of banishment.  I have participated to this extent because I have
>>>> worked on 774 pages of "work product" on one of the P2P Foundation systems,
>>>> the wiki, from which I could be banned at any moment.  Larger than that,
>>>> though, I generally agree with the mission of the foundation, and I value
>>>> the multitude of perspectives that create the wiki
>>>>
>>>> I would not fault you for criticizing my behavior.  I do not think I did
>>>> "all the right things" by any means.  However, how "right" constructed,
>>>> here, and how it is enforce are the actual issues.  As you consider how you
>>>> would proceed, you are free to consider my behavior and provide feedback to
>>>> me which I would value greatly as a friend and fellow Guerilla Gardener.
>>>>
>>>> As this was my largest effort at Guerilla Gardening to date, and as I
>>>> have seen horrendous failure, I see this as relevant.   I do not believe
>>>> that you are bound to support me, or that you should, really.
>>>>
>>>> If you choose to participate, though, please know that I see our mutual
>>>> interest as that of Guerilla Gardeners, and that I believe that this
>>>> "silencing" dynamic, is an important feature of the space.  When
>>>> participatory democracy is online, it can be possible to simply remove
>>>> access to the systems.  This silences people.
>>>>
>>>> How should folks understand this as feature/benefit of "online
>>>> participatory governance" ?
>>>>
>>>> What should a group understand about these dynamics and how they might
>>>> interact with the policy requests I am making above?  What is an appropriate
>>>> board policy for engaging community stakeholders when the conversation is in
>>>> a public forum?
>>>>
>>>> What should James know, on that subject, based on what you see in the
>>>> archive?
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for considering my request.  I appreciate you are busy, and
>>>> value the opportunity to connect with you further on this subject.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Alex Rollin

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