A Failure of "Convivencia": Democracy and Discourse Conflicts in a Virtual Government

Autor/in	McKnight, John Carter
Titel	A Failure of "Convivencia": Democracy and Discourse Conflicts in a Virtual Government
Quelle	In: Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 32 (2012) 5, S.361-374 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0270-4676
DOI	10.1177/0270467612463798
Schlagwörter	Internet; Computer Simulation; Computer Mediated Communication; Conflict; Governance; Cultural Differences; Social Systems; Ethnography; Discourse Analysis; Democracy; Participative Decision Making; Cultural Pluralism; Science and Society; Political Issues; Values + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Computergrafik; Computersimulation; Computerkonferenz; Konflikt; Education; Educational policy; Financing; Steuerung; Bildung; Erziehung; Bildungspolitik; Finanzierung; Kultureller Unterschied; Social system; Soziales System; Ethnografie; Diskursanalyse; Demokratie; Kulturpluralismus; Politischer Faktor; Wertbegriff
Abstract	Early utopian notions of Internet-based community as enabling transcendence of earthly governments and cultural divides manifested in the massively multiplayer online nongame platform, Second Life. However, while platform users nearly unanimously chose governance regimes based on professional management rather than democratic self-governance, one of the few democratic experiments experienced deep conflict over precisely the utopian notions it held in common. This article examines a failed merger between two experimental democratic communities in the virtual world of Second Life as an example of the general failure of internet utopianism and a specific failure to transcend distinctions in cultures of origin (the "failure of 'convivencia,'" of the title, a term reflecting a historical model chosen by one of the communities) in a common online space. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this article will analyze a distinction between radically different, and ultimately incommensurable, discourses around governance in the merged community amid the failure of participatory, democratic models of online governance. (Contains 2 figures.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10