Editing Organizing and Governance in Online Communities (UW COM597 Winter 2025) (section)

=== Friday March 7: Decentralization ===

;Assignments:
* Complete and post your response to reading [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics in the appropriate discussion forum] by 11:59pm on Thursday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])
* In [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/discussion_topics the appropriate forum], ''briefly'' respond to at least two of your classmates and make sure to nominate at least two of their questions for group discussion by 12:00p (noon) on Friday (see [[#Weekly Response Papers]])

;Required readings:
* {{avail-wp|Decentralization}}

* Hayek, Friedrich A. 1945. “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” ''American Economic Review'' 35 (4): 519–30. {{avail-free|https://www.kysq.org/docs/Hayek_45.pdf}}
* Powell, Walter W. 1990. “Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization.” In ''Research in Organizational Behavior'', edited by B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings, 12:295–336. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. {{avail-canvas|1=https://canvas.uw.edu/files/131454325/download?download_frd=1}}
* Schneider, Aaron. 2003. “Decentralization: Conceptualization and Measurement.” ''Studies in Comparative International Development'' 38 (3): 32–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686198. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686198}}

* Forte, Andrea, Vanesa Larco, and Amy Bruckman. 2009. “Decentralization in Wikipedia Governance.” ''Journal of Management Information Systems'' 26 (1): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222260103. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222260103}}
* DiResta, Renée. 2025. “The Great Social Media Diaspora.” ''Noema Magazine'', January. https://www.noemamag.com/the-great-decentralization. {{avail-free|https://www.noemamag.com/the-great-decentralization}}

* Lemmer-Webber, Christine. 2024. “How Decentralized Is Bluesky Really?” Blog. Dustycloud Brainstorms (blog). November 22, 2024. https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/. {{avail-free|1=https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/}}
* Newbold, Bryan. 2024. “Reply on Bluesky and Decentralization.” Blog. Whitewind (blog). November 27, 2024. https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3lbvbtqrg5t2t. {{avail-free|https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3lbvbtqrg5t2t}}
* Lemmer-Webber, Christine. 2024. “Re: Re: Bluesky and Decentralization.” Blog. Dustycloud Brainstorms (blog). December 13, 2024. https://dustycloud.org/blog/re-re-bluesky-decentralization/. {{avail-free|https://dustycloud.org/blog/re-re-bluesky-decentralization/}}

;Optional readings:

* Mintzberg, Henry. 1980. “Structure in 5’s: A Synthesis of the Research on Organization Design.” ''Management Science'' 26 (3): 322–41. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.26.3.322. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.26.3.322}}
* Podolny, Joel M., and Karen L. Page. 1998. “Network Forms of Organization.” ''Annual Review of Sociology'' 24 (Volume 24, 1998): 57–76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.24.1.57.

* Kessy, Ambrose. 2013. “Decentralization and Citizens’ Participation: Some Theoretical and Conceptual Perspectives.” ''The African Review: A Journal of African Politics, Development and International Affairs'' 40 (2): 215–39. {{avail-uw|https://www.jstor.org/stable/45341662}}
* Mookherjee, Dilip. 2015. “Political Decentralization.” ''Annual Review of Economics'' 7 (Volume 7, 2015): 231–49. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080614-115527. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080614-115527}}

* Baran, P. 1964. “On Distributed Communications Networks.” IEEE Transactions on Communications Systems 12 (1): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCOM.1964.1088883. {{avail-uw|https://doi.org/10.1109/TCOM.1964.1088883}}
* Nottingham, Mark. 2023. “Centralization, Decentralization, and Internet Standards.” Request for Comments RFC 9518. ''Internet Engineering Task Force''. https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC9518. {{avail-free|https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC9518.}}
* Hsieh, Ying-Ying, and Jean-Philippe Vergne. 2023. “The Future of the Web? The Coordination and Early-Stage Growth of Decentralized Platforms.” ''Strategic Management Journal'' 44 (3): 829–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3455.