[governance] Re: Nomcom and conflict of interest

[Jeremy Malcolm]

On 03/06/2008, at 8:05 PM, George Sadowsky wrote:

> I guess that you believe in confrontation of stakeholders' interests  
> as a way to make progress.  I would rather believe in, and practice,  
> cooperation in finding acceptable middle grounds.


No that's not my position at all, although it is a theory (called  
agnonism) that some do assume, arguing that consensus is always a mask  
for oppression and that "a vibrant clash of democratic political  
positions" is a more authentic form of democratic engagement.

Without accepting that at all, I hold that the assumption that the  
stakeholder groups are equal, either in political and economic power,  
or in the source of their legitimacy, is as specious as it is  
fashionable.  Without confronting these underlying inequalities, the  
MAG will simply institutionalise them.

I have therefore put forward a model of a consociational bureau for  
the IGF that would preserve the distinct identities and autonomy of  
each of the stakeholder groups within the MAG, whilst mediating the  
power imbalances between them (see pp.294-297, 312, 464-467, 471-474,  
478-482 of my book, http://books.google.com/books?id=G8ETBPD6jHIC).

-- 
Jeremy Malcolm LLB (Hons) B Com
Internet and Open Source lawyer, IT consultant, actor
host -t NAPTR 1.0.8.0.3.1.2.9.8.1.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'

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