Wikimedia Foundation elections/2022/Candidates/Lionel Scheepmans
Lionel Scheepmans (Lionel Scheepmans)
Lionel Scheepmans (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA • AE)
| Candidate details | 
| |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory statement / Application summary. This section to be translated. (150 word maximum) |
Although I am a candidate, I am against elitist processes that give power to a chosen few instead of organizing decision making with concerned and interested members of our community. Just like the trustees in Wikimedia projects, I believe that the foundation trustees can also validate and implement the decisions made by the community.
From my study of the Wikimedia movement, I also argue that too much money is detrimental to our mission of sharing knowledge. It increases the number of employees at the expense of editors, while those who give money to the foundation are less likely to dedicate time to the projects. With over 600 employees, mostly remote, the foundation is difficult to manage. Instead of expanding its Board of Trustees, it would be better to reduce its staff and fundraising, which is already not well received by the media. | |
| Contributions to the Wikimedia projects, memberships in Wikimedia organizations or affiliates, activities as a Wikimedia movement organizer, or participation with a Wikimedia movement ally organization. (100 word maximum) |
First edit in 2008, admin on Wikiversity since 2015. Founding member of Wikimedia Belgium and board between 20. Studying the movement since 2011. | |
Expertise in skill areas identified as needs by the Board.
(150 word maximum) |
Digital-anthropology, socio-political PhD student, financial analyses, free and open source software and free license user and supporter. Much more information available on my Wikimedian contributor page. | |
| Lived experiences in the world. We are especially interested in reading about lived experiences in the regions of Africa, South Asia, East and South East Asia & Pacific, and Latin America & Caribbean. We believe that experience in these regions could help expand the board’s ability to fulfill the movement strategy goal of more equitable participation, although we recognize that other experiences may also provide important contributions. (250 word maximum) |
I'm finishing my PhD thesis about Wikimédia movement (read in French, read in other languages). I have a 10 years old son and a long personal experience of social care and the stigma it brings. Since 2011, I have been devoting most of my time to studying the Wikimedia movement, which I consider to be a social experiment that is very much ahead of its time in terms of awareness of the issues and possible solutions to the challenges facing our global and digital society.
I can also give a hand to the board concerning issue about inclusion and representativity in the movement. I would also like to put volunteering back at the centre of the movement instead of institutional and financial development. I am in favour of consensus, drawing lots and direct, participatory democracy within the movement and I can help the movement to evolve in this direction. | |
| Cultural and linguistic fluency with regions and languages additional to your native region and language. Intercultural awareness helps build bridges in our multicultural community. (250 word maximum) |
French native speaker, I can survive in English, and I'm comfortable with Portuguese. In writing contexts, Deepl.com is my best friend ... | |
| Experience as an advocate for creating safe and collaborative spaces for all and/or experience in situations or contexts of censorship, repression, or other attacks to human rights. (250 words maximum) |
I have the privilege of living in a country that is quite respectful of human beings and their freedom of expression and way of being. But I struggle personally and daily to be able to live without proprietary software (including in the Wikimedia movement), to pollute our environment as little as possible and to produce the minimum amount of greenhouse gases. I also struggle to free myself from the grip of money and employment that makes us part-time slaves of an immoral and dehumanized economic system.
By writing my PhD thesis on Wikiversity and comparing the university system to my observations within the Wikimedia projects, I also hope to open a debate about the democratization of science within the human community by challenging some privileges and dysfunctions of the social sciences. Including in the Wikimedia movement, I try to show the way to another way of producing knowledge outside the Wikipedia project, whose editorial rules do not allow a fair representation of knowledge. | |
| Experience in relation to (or as a member of, to the extent you choose to share) a group that has faced historical discrimination and underrepresentation in structures of power (including but not limited to caste, race, ethnicity, colour, national origin, nationality, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, language, culture, education, abilities, income and environment). (250 word maximum) |
As I'm facing to dysorthographic and dyslexic troubles, and because I've been most of the time of my life social assistance recipient, refusing to be submitted as an employee, I've experienced a lot of stigmata in my life. | |
| Verification | Identity verification performed by Wikimedia Foundation staff and eligibility verification performed by the Elections Committee | |
Eligibility:  VerifiedVerified by: Matanya (talk) 08:55, 17 May 2022 (UTC) |
Identification: Verified by: ? | |