A Failure of Convivencia
Democracy and Discourse Conflicts in a Virtual Government
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20360539 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Mcknight (0000-0002-8214-7625, Arizona State University, corresponding author), John Carter McKnight (Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 361-374 |
| Publication date | 2012-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of Science Technology & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0270-4676 • E-ISSN: 1552-4183 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0270467612463798 |
| OpenAlex | W2094137996 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 15 |
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
Citizen journalism · Corporate governance · Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Ethnography · Management · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Anthropology · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Law · Philosophy
Designs on Nature
Virtual Ethnography
The Virtual Community
Declaration of Independence for Cyberspace
Bowling alone
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
Communities of Play
Hanging Out in the Virtual PubMasculinities and Relationships Online
My Life as a Night Elf Priest
Hearing the Other Side
After Method
Coming of Age in Second Life
Homo ludens
| Highly cited | No |
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