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Maria Kozińska Nov 26, 2023

#ConflictResolution anti-pattern and an extremly harmful practice in #Karrot project:

§4 End of Membership

There are two ways to stop being part of the Karrot team:
a) either by resignation
b) by all other members consenting on a proposal to stop someone’s membership (the latter in case of conflict unresolved by other means).

https://community.karrot.world/t/membership-policy/1377

@karrot please consider better conflict resolution and separation strategies. This is violence nobody deserves!

#FOSS #implicitPowerStructures

Membership policy

Membership policy §1 Karrot Team Karrot is an open-source digital tool developed to support communities, initiatives and grassroots projects in their organising and daily activities. On Karrot we describe such communities as Karrot groups since to use Karrot they have to create a digital group. The Karrot team is responsible for the digital tool Karrot and consists of its members. The Karrot team is responsible for stewarding the development of Karrot, coordinating, conducting and delegating ...

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Nik | Klampfradler 🎸🚲

@mariha @karrot What is bad about using 100% consent as last resort after all else failed?

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Maria Kozińska Nov 26, 2023

@nik @karrot if there is an implicit power structure, which usually is the case even in supposed-to-be-egalitarian groups, it's way too easy to default to power abuse and there are no other means left for the powerless.

The emotional impact of a whole group rejecting someone based on unclear criteria, without them doing anything wrong in the spaces of the project, results in what is called social death.

The consequances are invisible to the perpetrators, so there is no mechanism to stop that.

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Nik | Klampfradler 🎸🚲Nov 26, 2023

@mariha @karrot In our organisation, the decision to expell someone is delegated to a dedicated group made of:

1. our board
2. a group selected by the defendant of the same size as our board, including the defendant themselves

(All of these people have equal voting rights)

If the ruling coming out of that is not accepted by the defendant, it is then referred to the general assembly.

What flaws do you see in this?

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Maria Kozińska Nov 28, 2023

I am not an expert of this except that one scenario...

@nik from what you write I infer that your group is big enough to decentralise power beyond individuals.

I don't know what is the relation between board and general assembly. If GA is elected for a fix period of time by the whole community (trusted and accountable to them) you are probably fairly good.

I am writing 'fairly good' because I question if 'expelling someone' unless they broke some clearly stated rule is ever a good idea.

tbc

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Nik | Klampfradler 🎸🚲Nov 28, 2023

@mariha "Expelling" is by far not our only "penalty". I just picked that one because it was set previously in the thread.

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Maria Kozińska Nov 28, 2023

@nik that's good. I believe people usually break rules unintentionally or when they don't understand breaking them as harmful in any way - and sometimes the rules are not good (any more).

I should probably write "unless not meeting the criteria of membership any more". It seems to me that membership should not be a subject of penalty (ever!) because it threatens belonging that is one of most fundamental human needs. Otherwise (every)one have to be at the top of the power hierarchy to feel safe.