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

Sat Mar 7 12:12:56 EST 2015

Again, I have no problem with a reference to democracy, which also appears in the first principle out of ten identified by the Council of Europe in ist Declaration of 2011. But as it comes out quite clearly from some statements on this thread, the concept of democracy should obviously be used to challenge the MSH-concept without giving any clear indication how, which I guess is the main reason for the opposition. Again I would also welcome a more democratic internet governance, but I would like to know how that should look like in practice from those propagating it. Most processes on the multilateral level work on the basis of consensus, where You have to persuade others. This includes not only to denounce deficiencies, which is important, but also to explain the preferred alternatives. And it is part of democracy to accept to be in a minority and not to force one's views on others.

Wolfgang Benedek
Von: parminder <parminder at itforchange.net<mailto:parminder at itforchange.net>>
Datum: Samstag, 07. März 2015 15:42
An: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>, Wolfgang Benedek <wolfgang.benedek at uni-graz.at<mailto:wolfgang.benedek at uni-graz.at>>, Michael Gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com<mailto:gurstein at gmail.com>>
Betreff: Re: [governance] [bestbits] Remarks at UNESCO Closing Ceremony of "Connecting the Dots Conference"

On Saturday 07 March 2015 07:32 PM, Benedek, Wolfgang (wolfgang.benedek at uni-graz.at<mailto:wolfgang.benedek at uni-graz.at>) wrote:

First to make my position clear I'm myself an advocate of democratic
governance and a holistic approach to human rights although not as an
alternative to multistakeholderism, the potential of which in my view
still needs to be developed.

Second I have myself proposed in writing to the Secretariat to include
certain language on global citizenship education, a concept supported by
the UN Secretary General and developed very actively in the educational
sector of UNECO while only mentioned once in the UNESCO study to resolve
ethical issues in cyberspace. Finally, the concept was only mentioned
without any elaboration. And I'm aware that several other proposals made
by others were not taken up at all.

Regarding the baggage issue, I'm not an insider to these discussions, 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.

What about doing the same about the 'multistakeholder thing, which did go into the doc? Are you are saying that democracy is on more unsure grounds than MSism to go into international documents? If so, on what basis? You know that the whole thing would have been made to grind to a halt if the multistkeholder word was removed from the doc, or not included in the first place. The question is: why is democracy subject to such interrogation, and not the MS concept? Why are there so many defenders of MSism and none for democracy?

Again, sorry to hear use of words like 'forcing into international documents' about democracy. You of course you say so in particular respect of Internet - but as a Professor of and expert in human rights, do you think that democracy may or may not be as applicable in relation to Internet, as it is about other issues, like trade, health, education, climate change, etc.

This plot keeps thickening... Good to have a through continued education.... parminder

Wolfgang Benedek

Am 07.03.15 14:01 schrieb "Michael Gurstein" unter <gurstein at gmail.com><mailto: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>
[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<mailto: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<mailto: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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