Loomio
Wed 12 Sep 2018 10:20PM

Social.coop Principles

ELP Edward L Platt Public Seen by 49

Several members have suggested that we would benefit from more clearly defined common principles. We list the ICA coop principles on our "about" page, and some other principles in our draft CoC. But we haven't built consensus around them or put much focus on them in our discussions. Let's start that here.

In an online community, what principles are mandatory or highly desirable for you? What does the principle mean to you? Can you give an example of how it is applied in practice?

Facilitation requests:
* One priniciple per post
* No debating or discussion (yet).

Example:
Solidarity. Your struggle is my struggle. Example: a member expresses concern over injustice or misconduct. Another member makes an effort to understand and offers to help, even though they are not directly affected.

FHM

Fabián Heredia Montiel Thu 13 Sep 2018 3:17AM

Mutual Aid: I might not gain anything from helping someone else out, but by doing it we improve the world. Through collective mutual aid we can archive emancipation from the hyper comoditized / hyper competitive modernity. Hoy tu, mañana yo.

EM

Erik Moeller Thu 13 Sep 2018 5:15AM

Assume good faith: You're bound to meet people with very different perspectives, stories and biases than your own. When judging another person's behavior towards you, in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, take an initially optimistic approach. Where unhealthy conflict can be deescalated by creating space for others or by disengaging, consider doing so. (Inspired by http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/AssumeGoodFaith which in turn also inspired https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith)

NS

Nick S Thu 13 Sep 2018 11:03AM

Although in the light of recent events, see also this article, to be aware how this term ("assume good faith/intent") has been criticised:

https://thebias.com/2017/09/26/how-good-intent-undermines-diversity-and-inclusion/

TL;DR [It] "will actually undermine your code of conduct and make marginalized people feel less welcome and less safe in your community" ... because people with large clumsy feet can use it to pass blame for conflicts resulting from their toe-treading onto the downtrodden.

Personally, I think that doesn't totally invalidate the principle, but it does highlight a potential misuse of it. Plus simply not being aware of the criticism itself could be used as evidence that one is naturally on the side of the toe-treading class.

EM

Erik Moeller Fri 14 Sep 2018 5:36AM

Thanks Nick, that's a great perspective on AGF. Personally, I think that different principles can balance each other and sometimes be in tension with each other, and that's fine -- an "assume good faith / we're all humans here" type principle does not excuse violations of other principles, and be in important in its own right in specific situations.

To be a bit more responsive to the post you link to, it's worth looking at the specific language in the current CoC draft: "Keep in mind the potential for misunderstandings, avoiding initial assumptions of bad faith." -- this is listed under "encouraged behavior". I think the categorization (encouraged behavior rather than unacceptable behavior) sets it apart in a way that is useful and important in a CoC for the reasons articulated in the post you link to.

AW

Aaron Wolf Fri 14 Sep 2018 2:51PM

@wulee @erikmoeller5 and others, I debated using private message vs public, but I think the reminder here will help others too (and we could leave your couple good-faith, productive posts here): Please note, everyone, that @edwardlplatt opened this topic with a request to specifically flesh out our understanding of the ICA C-op principles (not just any principles) and requested "No debating or discussion (yet)."

MB

Manuela Bosch Fri 14 Sep 2018 7:07AM

I value all those initiatives around purpose, vision and values and principles very much! It's at the core of the work I am doing usually. And exactly for that reason, I feel restitance in trying to dig into theses things via Loomio discussions. It needs to a thoughtful process for that, that speaks to our inuition and creativity. And before that, knowing each other better and other ways of establishing trust are necessary. Maybe this has been discussed above already, can't read all this at the moment.

MN

Matt Noyes Fri 14 Sep 2018 5:43PM

Edward and all, remember this thread and the spreadsheet?

ELP

Edward L Platt Fri 14 Sep 2018 5:58PM

I don't think I ever saw these! This is really helpful. Was there any work on synthesizing these into a consensus set of principles?

MN

Matt Noyes Fri 14 Sep 2018 6:01PM

Not sure -- @matthewcropp?

ED

emi do Tue 18 Sep 2018 12:21AM

According to this : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1flPeb8LxnLC1v4dbZcO9SzhA2-tCwbyjomW7fXKNz3U/mobilebasic

The original CoC drafted by Matt and Michele was based on these principles. The draft was presented on May 28th.

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