Embracing a Successful Anarchic Institution
I recently read a May 7 article in Education Week, “Embracing Wikipedia”, where author and science teacher Matthew Shapiro makes the case for Wikipedia as a research tool, particularly for students (and therefore I guess for any casual life-long learner), competing favorably (at least in Shapiro’s opinion) with the “Gold Standard” Encyclopedia Britannica.
Heads up folks… you might even want to sit down! Wikipedia uses an anarchic form of governance. In fact, though it may be a long time until “brick and mortar” institutions adopt it, this portable, adaptable and minimalist governance model, may well be one of the biggest trends of the 21st Century, particularly in cyberspace.
Anticipating some knee-jerk reactions, there is a perhaps subtle yet profound difference between the commonly used word “anarchy”, which most people use to describe chaos and confusion, and the governance model by the same root with the “y” removed and an “ism” added.
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes “anarchism” as…
A political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable