Uitermark "Longing for Wikitopia: The study and politics of self-organisation"

Question 1

What are key concepts in the paper by Uitermark?

Answer 1

• self-organisation
• community
• bottom-up
• governance
• politics/democracy

Question 2

What is meant by the participation society in Uitermark?

Answer 2

Individual citizens should do as much as they can to contribute to the overall well-being of society. You don’t need big government, you need big society. Reducing the costs by avoiding big government involvement.

Question 3

What is meant by the self-organised city in Uitermark?

Answer 3

• People organise and take care of themselves and others.
• No central authorities or place-based government
• No hierarchy
• Bottom-up
• Direct influence for citizens

Question 4

What is the critique on the self-organised city by Uitermark?

Answer 4

• self-organisation is not a guarantee for democratic and inclusive action
• it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing for all people
• hierarchy and power concentrations emerge from self-organisation
• powerless people will not be heard. Loss of control for many
• inequalities make Wikitopia utopian

Question 5

How can we link Uitermark’s paper to Bauman?

Answer 5

Liquid modernity: globalisation is something that happens to us all. The vagabonds and tourist are affected differently by globalisation.

Question 6

What is the paradox the WRR, Röpke and Foucault point out?

Answer 6

Resilience paradox: Some people might not be able to take care of themselves. If you give everyone the same responsibilities and self-determination you create more inequalities because some lose control over their lives.

The same responsibilities can create more inequality