[governance] Fwd: [cs-coord] Civil Society Speakers for IGF Closing Ceremony

Wed Aug 27 13:41:05 EDT 2014

Milton,

Why is it that you hardly make a difference between: 
- One hero  delivering a speech that would be a "rough-consensus" summary, some sort of fusion of all ideas expressed by CS
and
- One decent honest broker trying to express what are the diverse opinions, highlighting where he might see ground for possible consensus/progress/convergence (don't need to be "rough" under a democratic flag)
?

Who talks about that bizarre pot where everything would melt and reappear in a fabulous narrative turned non sense. I am really wondering.

The point is not for the closing ceremony speakers to invent a consensus. Just maybe to speak for all the diversity of views and opinions. Out of partisanship. 

By trying to rush to these minimalist grounds (I agree with you over the danger that they represent), all debates, all discussions are simply lost for any progress or pragmatism, to the profit of the dominant party. This is where this game, in all venues, is being twisted for years. And your answer is simply made of the same poor glue. Stick to the mainstream powerful, with some kinder gardens here and there for the "good guys" to enjoy a ride to Montevideo, Sao Paulo... And sometime stands-up and say "what you believe need to be said".

In your answer, you precisely use the existence of these minimalist results, part of your own thinking and handling of the IG debate, to refuse the debate. When you should to the contrary come to think over that little moment, as something that could be different. A signal for progress!

But by refusing to have a diversity of views, the two brilliants US CS members, speakers at the closing ceremony will betray the need for a democratic MS build-up called in by the Sao Paulo declaration. Do you remember the statement on that?

Say what "YOU" believe needs to be said. Fine. I am sure you will have the two standard laughing moments like all good US speakers do.  Good for you indeed. But this will simply be another shot in the air.

IG doesn't need heroes carrying dead rough consensus, it needs debates, honest debates, and diversity of expressions and views, before it can even think of converging to a form/state of progress. I am simply one among many that speaks in the open on this issue. Sorry about that.

JC
(I still wish you the best for your speech)

Le 27 août 2014 à 18:26, Milton L Mueller a écrit :

> A few words about the broader issues related to speaker selection:
> 
> In a group as large and diverse as this, any speaker who does not make any one of us just a little bit uncomfortable is probably not saying anything meaningful or worthwhile. This is one of the reasons IGF as a whole is perilously close to being broken; there are too many lowest common denominator filtering mechanisms that prevent anything challenging from being said or done, especially in main sessions.
> 
> The idea that any speaker would speak for all of civil society, much less every individual on this list,  is not just an impossible standard; to my mind it reflects a misunderstanding of what civil society is supposed to be and to do in these environments. We are the free and diverse elements of the governance institution; we are supposed to reflect new and challenging ideas, not to conform or be acceptable. There is not now and never will be a "peak association" that speaks for all of us as if we were a trade association of oil producers or farmers.
> 
> I have 15 years of history in fighting for an institutionalized presence for civil society in Internet governance institutions; I was there when IGF was created and played a role shaping its initial consultations. Throughout that process I've helped to provide representation, speaking platforms and even funding to many people I don't agree with wholly, but am willing to fight for their right to be heard. As a scholar and writer I've taken a number of well-considered positions and performed analyses of key issues. I suspect that the committee chose me for those reasons.
> 
> Drawing on that experience, and these perspectives, I will say what I believe needs to be said in the context of the IGF closing. 
> 
> Milton L Mueller
> Laura J and L. Douglas Meredith Professor 
> Syracuse University School of Information Studies
> http://faculty.ischool.syr.edu/mueller/ 
> 
> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Suresh Ramasubramanian [mailto:suresh at hserus.net]
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 4:43 AM
>> To: Jean-Christophe Nothias
>> Cc: governance at lists.igcaucus.org; Ian Peter; Milton L Mueller; Mawaki
>> Chango
>> Subject: Re: [governance] Fwd: [cs-coord] Civil Society Speakers for IGF
>> Closing Ceremony
>> 
>> Jean-Christophe Nothias [27/08/14 10:31 +0200]:
>>> "...opinions are, rightly, excluded..."
>>> That must reflect on your highly democratic conception of an open debate.
>>> To exclude rightly is usually part of the extreme right parties narrative.
>>> Weren't you a multistakeholder equal footing blabla model advocate?
>> 
>> Let us put it this way -
>> 
>> Personally, I am a centrist. I disagree with the extreme left just as much as I
>> do the extreme right.
>> 
>> In this case, I am a believer in a consensus, which in this case, forms a bell
>> curve from which the tail has, necessarily, to be excluded in order to get a
>> sense of what the vast majority of the group wants.
> 
> 
> ____________________________________________________________
> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
> To be removed from the list, visit:
>     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
> 
> For all other list information and functions, see:
>     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
> To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>     http://www.igcaucus.org/
> 
> Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t

-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t