Provided by Leonhard Dobusch, University of Innsbruck
Guiding question: How do non-state actors organize information (warfare) via digital platforms in the context of armed conflicts?
Lecture:
Core readings
Dobusch, L., & Schoeneborn, D. (2015). Fluidity, identity, and organizationality: The communicative constitution of Anonymous. Journal of Management Studies, 52(8), 1005-1035. PDF
Rijshouwer, E., Uitermark, J., & de Koster, W. (2021). Wikipedia: A self-organizing bureaucracy. Information, Communication & Society, 1-18. PDF
Contemporary news article
Conger, K., & Satariano, A. (2022). Volunteer Hackers Converge on Ukraine Conflict With No One in Charge, New York Times, March 04, 2022
Song, V. (2022). A top Wikipedia editor has been arrested in Belarus, The Verge, March 11, 2022
Post-lecture assignment
Compare the English Wikipedia article on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine with one in another language (e.g., German, Spanish, French or any other language you are able to read and understand). In not more than 400 words (one page) discuss whether and how the two language versions differ both in terms of content as well as in terms of process, the latter being revealed via the talk page and the editing history of the page.
Background readings
Coleman, G. (2014). Hacker, hoaxer, whistleblower, spy: The many faces of Anonymous. Verso books. PDF
Dobusch, L., Dobusch, L., & Müller-Seitz, G. (2019). Closing for the benefit of openness? The case of Wikimedia’s open strategy process. Organization Studies, 40(3), 343-370. PDF
Jemielniak, D. (2014). Common knowledge. An Ethnography of Wikipedia. Stanford University Press.
Organizing in Times of Crisis 