[governance] Help from MAG colleagues

[parminder]

Milton,

I am responding to old email from you, but since there are questions 
directly addressed to me, I must answer.

On Saturday 26 March 2011 08:04 PM, Milton L Mueller wrote:
>
> Parminder:
>
> When did you become such an adherent of the ideology of 
> "stakeholderism"? I thought you were healthily critical of it.
>
I remain healthily critical of it.

If you see below in my email, I am careful with my language :)


    "It is an **officially stated position**, especially in various MAG
    reforms discussions, that selection is stakeholder group based."


And when I am speaking for myself, I directly move into talking about 
representation, speak more circumspectly of " stakeholder group or 
constituency basis of membership of the MAG.....". I can understand 
stakeholder groups as some form constituencies, in the political sense, 
but not otherwise.

On the other hand, the reason that my email would have appeared to you 
as uncritical support for MS-ism is that if I have healthy suspicion of 
MSism, I have an absolute horror of the post-mod thinking (fantasy was 
the word I used) of each of us representing ourselves and ourselves 
alone at various political forums. While prima facie it looks most 
democratic, in actual practice, such a thinking can be even more harmful 
for representative democracy than under-theorized and fashionable MS-ist 
innovations.

> One of the key problems with MSism is that there are no clear 
> boundaries between stakeholder groups, esp in civil society,
>

Yes, there are considerable 'boundary problems'. In fact on a larger 
level I can see only two kinds of representation - formal, through 
government kind of systems, and informal and open, through civil society 
grouping. To the extent real people involved in business are concerned, 
they too get represented by groups, like trade associations, that to me 
can be part of civil society mechanisms. Here what you call as 
boundaries within civil society become significant issues, and need 
contextual resolutions.

> and the process of selecting "representatives" of such groups is 
> fraught with opportunities for manipulation. The claim, for example, 
> that marginalized people in developing countries are represented by 
> their governments, whose policies are often the cause of their lack of 
> resources and marginalization, needs to be questioned.
>
That the whole idea of 'deepening democracy', and using, and innovating 
about, civil society based representational means besides those through 
governments.

Parminder

> --MM
>
> It is an officially stated position, especially in varoius MAG reforms 
> discussions, that selection is stakeholder group based. The current 
> discussion here in the WG on IGF improvements is on increasing 
> 'representation' of under represented groups, including developing 
> countries. In this context, contesting stakeholder group or 
> constituency basis of membership of the MAG makes a discussion on 
> improving representation of marginalized group quite meaningless. That 
> is my problem, coming from being situated in the middle of such a 
> discussion here in the WG, which triggered my response. I am sorry 
> that the term offended you. It was used in the sense of a 'good 
> imagined thing that doesnt happen in reality' and not meant 
> specifically for what you said but for the general 'just representing 
> oneself' proposition often made in this kind of a discussion.
>
> Parminder
>
>
>
> jeanette
>
>
>     The member list is here:
>
>     http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/magabout/406-mag-2010
>
>     jeanette
>
>
>     and the division between developing and developed
>
>     countries?
>
>     That would be much appreciated
>
>     Marilia
>     -- 
>     Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade
>     FGV Direito Rio
>
>     Center for Technology and Society
>     Getulio Vargas Foundation
>     Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
>
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