Panel 5.6. Power, Participation, and Heterogeneity in Knowledge Commons
co-Chairs: Michael Madison1, Brett Frischmann2, Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo3, and Katherine Strandburg4
1University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 2Villanova Law, 3Illinois iSchool, 4NYU
The theme for this panel is community, and how the attributes of a community contribute to – or detract from – knowledge commons governance. Using the GKC (Governing Knowledge Commons) framework, researchers have explored a variety of topics focused on knowledge resources and have asked how different kinds of knowledge resources, even within a single institutional setting, may produce different kinds of governance dilemmas and knowledge commons responses.
As many contexts intersect in a given institutional setting, the polycentric nature of decision making within knowledge commons engage heterogeneous groups of community members. Polycentricity thus privileges different actors with power to shape governance within each locus.
This panel will highlight the work of junior and emerging scholars who are exploring polycentricity and heterogeneity in knowledge commons. Who is included in knowledge commons governance and what roles do they play? Who is excluded? How, and why, in each instance? Who are affected outsiders? When those details are considered, what are the consequences for the legitimacy of knowledge commons practices? For their trustworthiness?
