[governance] [bestbits] Remarks at UNESCO Closing Ceremony of "Connecting the Dots Conference"

Suresh Ramasubramanian suresh at hserus.net
Sat Mar 7 11:44:16 EST 2015 

Oh that's not elite based at all. It simply ensures that only people 
prepared to actually work at something rather than score petty political 
points get to have a say in the process


On March 7, 2015 10:01:54 PM "Michael Gurstein" <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

> Anyone who thinks this is simply about word games has not been present in 
> Internet Governance discussions over the last ten years where there has 
> been a very concerted intention to ensure that deliberately ill-defined but 
> elite based multistakeholder decision processes become the required mode in 
> the Internet policy area.
>
> What is interesting in this instance is that for once the process and its 
> overall objective has been made clear i.e. to suppress democracy in favour 
> of MSism. An additional matter of interest that has become visible is the 
> range of unholy alliances that have been struck between those self-serving 
> governmental and corporate forces promoting MSism and various elements of 
> so-called "civil society".
>
> As an aside, if anyone is still wondering how MS decision processes might 
> actually operate in practice one need only reflect on the processes of 
> decision making that went into this purportedly multistakeholder Output 
> Document -- the highly questionable and completely non-transparent 
> selection of the editorial committee (from a small circle of the Internet 
> Governance elite), where potentially critical but equally qualified 
> participants were excluded, where dissenting voices and positions were 
> suppressed, with a complete lack of accountability to presumed 
> constituencies or "stakeholder" groups,  and where the outcome was 
> presented completely falsely as a "consensus" document and output of the 
> associated meeting.
>
> Shame on UNESCO and all those involved for hosting and countenancing such a 
> farce.
>
> And be very very afraid when these kinds of multistakeholder processes 
> become the required norm in a much broader range of global Internet (and 
> other) decision processes as is the clear intention of those controlling 
> and directing these efforts.
>
> M
> 	
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net 
> [mailto:bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] On Behalf Of Jeanette Hofmann
> Sent: March 7, 2015 7:11 AM
> To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org; best Bits
> Subject: Re: [bestbits] [governance] Remarks at UNESCO Closing Ceremony of 
> "Connecting the Dots Conference"
>
> +1
>
> Isn't it amazing that civil society seems to have adopted the language 
> games we observed governments playing over years during WSIS? So much waste 
> of time and energy spent on terms that can mean so many different things.
>
> Paradoxically, the normative substance of the term democracy may get lost 
> by (mis-)using it strategically.
>
> Jeanette
>
>
> (...)
>
>   I
> > have no problem with appeals to democratic values, but I'm aware that
> > the concept of democracy has also been misused a lot in history, take
> > the examples of the former German Democratic Republic(GDR), the
> > Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or the Democratic Peoples Republic
> > of Korea. It would be good to work for a consensus on the
> > understanding and role of democracy in the context of the internet
> > among civil society and academia first before forcing it into 
> international documents.
> >
> > Wolfgang Benedek
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 07.03.15 14:01 schrieb "Michael Gurstein" unter <gurstein at gmail.com>:
> >
> >> And to be very clear, in the case of "democracy"  it wasn't simply a
> >> matter of the concept "not making it into the final document" but
> >> rather that those involved made the clear political choice to promote
> >> "multistakeholderism" and suppress "democracy".
> >>
> >> M
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org
> >> [mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of Norbert
> >> Klein
> >> Sent: March 7, 2015 3:45 AM
> >> To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org
> >> Subject: Re: [governance] [bestbits] Remarks at UNESCO Closing
> >> Ceremony of "Connecting the Dots Conference"
> >>
> >>
> >> On 03/07/2015 02:30 PM, Benedek, Wolfgang
> >> (wolfgang.benedek at uni-graz.at)
> >> wrote:
> >>> As a participant and speaker in the UNESCO conference Connecting the
> >>> dots: Options for future action  in Paris I think it is important to
> >>> put the record straight: the main purpose of the conference was to
> >>> give feedback to the UNESCO draft Internet study and advise on the
> >>> future priorities in this field. This was done in several plenary
> >>> and
> >>> 16 breakout sessions in a MSH-approach quite successfully.
> >>> The fact that two concepts important to some did not make it into
> >>> the outcome document should not be overestimated as this is all work
> >>> in progress. Also other concepts dear to others were not or only
> >>> partly included. I also do not remember that these concepts were
> >>> elaborated on during the sessions or panels in any significant way
> >>> in order to deepen their understanding.
> >>>
> >>> Wolfgang Benedek
> >>>
> >>
> >> Dear Mr. Benedek,
> >>
> >> thanks for this, for this type of, clarification - using only
> >> formalities like "Also other concepts dear to others were not or only
> >> partly included."
> >>
> >> I cannot easily imagine what kind of "other concept" of a similar
> >> importance and weight could be lined up with "democracy." I would
> >> appreciate it if you, as a participant in this UNESCO conference,
> >> could share some of these "other concepts" which were also not, or
> >> only partially, included.
> >>
> >> Thanks in advance,
> >>
> >> Norbert Klein
> >> Cambodia
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
>
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