Reweaving Knowledge
This lecture explores the structural biases embedded in Wikipedia’s infrastructure and examines how feminist interventions can address systemic issues of exclusion and representation. Drawing on queer*feminist critiques of digital infrastructures and socio-technical systems, it analyzes Wikipedia's epistemological frameworks, such as relevance criteria, source legitimacy, and editorial hierarchies, that disproportionately marginalize non-male, non-Western, and non-heteronormative voices. Using examples from feminist edit-a-thons and collaborative writing practices, the lecture showcases how feminist scholars and activists are reweaving knowledge and infrastructures to create more inclusive and equitable information systems.
Hannah Schmedes is a PhD candidate in Gender Media Studies at Ruhr University Bochum. She is a researcher in the project “Bicycle Media. Cooperative Media of Mobility” at the CRC "Media of Cooperation" in Siegen. Her dissertation explores how gender politics are coded into infrastructures and platforms. She received her M.A. in European Media Studies from the University of Potsdam, which followed a B.A. in Cultural Studies and Philosophy at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. In addition to her academic work, Schmedes is part of the feminist collective Wiki Riot Squad, where she organizes writing workshops on Wikipedia's publishing and interface policies.
The lecture is also part of the RUSTlab Lectures at the RUSTLab of the Ruhr University Bochum.
Photo credits: History Comparison Example (CC BY-SA): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:History_Comparison_Example_(Vector).png
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