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| Proposed thesis by [[Vasilis Kostakis]].
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| =Description=
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| "Proposal for the MA in Technology Governance, TTU, September 2008
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| The dark side of Wikipedia
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| Towards a critique of peer governance and propositions for its enhancement
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| The free encyclopedia Wikipedia is often hailed as a prominent peer project where
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| individuals voluntarily participate and, using mechanisms of self-governance, they
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| produce a vast knowledge base i.e. a Commons. This productive process of projects
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| such as Wikipedia has been called as commons-oriented peer production [Benkler,
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| 2006]. Peer production, a term coined by Yochai Benkler [2006], is a third open mode
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| of production that has become typical for the Internet in recent years, where decisions
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| arise from the free engagement and cooperation of producers. This mode is radically
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| different from market-based production, which is based on equivalent exchange
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| , and planned economies that rely on hierarchical structures[Benkler, 2006]. In
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| addition, peer governance is a new mode of governance and bottom-up mode of
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| participative decision-making that is being experimented in peer projects, such as
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| Open Source and Free software production and Wikipedia [Bauwens, 2005] .
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| However, various criticisms have been leveled against the Wikipedia regarding the
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| mode of peer governance that is followed. The power structure within the Wikipedia
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| is 'invisible', 'vague' and 'opaque' giving chance to the tyranny of structurelessness,
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| as described by Jo Freeman [1970], to emerge. Critical questions such as "where is
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| the power in Wikipedia?" and "what kind of dysfunctionalities does the Wikipedia
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| experience? Why does it happen?" are going to be examined and answered during the
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| conduction of the thesis. Therefore, using the Wikipedia case as a point of departure
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| this project will try to draw some conclusions upon the dysfunctional sides of peer
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| governance and make any suggestions for its enhancement. Furthermore, these
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| conclusions and theoretical findings will allow for a consideration on peer
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| governance, wiki-politics and democracy."
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| =References:=
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| Bauwens, M., (2005), The Political Economy of Peer Production, Ctheory.net.
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| URL <http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499> (retrieved 10 March 2007).
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| Benkler, Y., (2006), The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets
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| and Freedom, Yale University Press.
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| Freeman, J., (1970), The Tyranny of Structurelessness, The Berkley Journal of Sociology.
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| [[Category:Research]] | | [[Category:Research]] |