On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts
This article considers how online alternative encyclopaedias, or ‘Altpedias’, create and maintain their own universes of “alternative facts”. We consider a selection of Altpedias that reject Wikipedia’s celebrated ‘neutral point of view’ as an artefact of liberal consensus politics whilst regarding...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
| Published: |
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
2020-09-01
|
| Series: | Artnodes |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes/article/view/373713 |
| _version_ | 1798023457674362880 |
|---|---|
| author | Emillie V de Keulenaar Marc Tuters Ivan Kisjes Kaspar Beelen |
| author_facet | Emillie V de Keulenaar Marc Tuters Ivan Kisjes Kaspar Beelen |
| author_sort | Emillie V de Keulenaar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article considers how online alternative encyclopaedias, or ‘Altpedias’, create and maintain their own universes of “alternative facts”. We consider a selection of Altpedias that reject Wikipedia’s celebrated ‘neutral point of view’ as an artefact of liberal consensus politics whilst regarding their own epistemics as inherently partisan. As opposed to disregarding objectivity or truth, Altpedias’ ‘alternative facts’ may thus be understood as the product of competing normative standpoints concerning the use value of knowledge. In competing with Wikipedia, Altpedias ultimately attempt to give their partisan viewpoints universal standards, both in tone and in their very nature as wiki platforms. Empirically, the article uses visual network analysis and natural language processing in order to represent the vernacular worldviews of several far- and extreme-right Altpedias: Metapedia, Infogalactic and Rightpedia. Theoretically, the article frames these Altpedias’ fractious approach to the study of knowledge in relation to Lyotard’s 'general agonistic’ and his speculations concerning the impact of computation on epistemics in the postmodern condition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:46:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d76083d027f45ab9ff5dd6d000737c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1695-5951 |
| language | Catalan |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:46:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Artnodes |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d76083d027f45ab9ff5dd6d000737c52022-12-22T04:11:18ZcatUniversitat Oberta de CatalunyaArtnodes1695-59512020-09-012410.7238/a.v0i24.3295On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative factsEmillie V de Keulenaar0Marc Tuters1Ivan Kisjes2Kaspar Beelen3University of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamThe Alan Turing InstituteThis article considers how online alternative encyclopaedias, or ‘Altpedias’, create and maintain their own universes of “alternative facts”. We consider a selection of Altpedias that reject Wikipedia’s celebrated ‘neutral point of view’ as an artefact of liberal consensus politics whilst regarding their own epistemics as inherently partisan. As opposed to disregarding objectivity or truth, Altpedias’ ‘alternative facts’ may thus be understood as the product of competing normative standpoints concerning the use value of knowledge. In competing with Wikipedia, Altpedias ultimately attempt to give their partisan viewpoints universal standards, both in tone and in their very nature as wiki platforms. Empirically, the article uses visual network analysis and natural language processing in order to represent the vernacular worldviews of several far- and extreme-right Altpedias: Metapedia, Infogalactic and Rightpedia. Theoretically, the article frames these Altpedias’ fractious approach to the study of knowledge in relation to Lyotard’s 'general agonistic’ and his speculations concerning the impact of computation on epistemics in the postmodern condition.https://raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes/article/view/373713Altpedias; post-truth; postmodernism; Lyotard; far right; general agonistics; epistemic rupture |
| spellingShingle | Emillie V de Keulenaar Marc Tuters Ivan Kisjes Kaspar Beelen On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts Artnodes Altpedias; post-truth; postmodernism; Lyotard; far right; general agonistics; epistemic rupture |
| title | On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts |
| title_full | On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts |
| title_fullStr | On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts |
| title_full_unstemmed | On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts |
| title_short | On Altpedias: partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts |
| title_sort | on altpedias partisan epistemics in the encyclopaedias of alternative facts |
| topic | Altpedias; post-truth; postmodernism; Lyotard; far right; general agonistics; epistemic rupture |
| url | https://raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes/article/view/373713 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emillievdekeulenaar onaltpediaspartisanepistemicsintheencyclopaediasofalternativefacts AT marctuters onaltpediaspartisanepistemicsintheencyclopaediasofalternativefacts AT ivankisjes onaltpediaspartisanepistemicsintheencyclopaediasofalternativefacts AT kasparbeelen onaltpediaspartisanepistemicsintheencyclopaediasofalternativefacts |