The name Appropedia is a portmanteau of appropriate (fitting in situation), apropos (fitting in time)[1] and encyclopedia (a collected and disseminated body of knowledge).
These are some of the ideas that the name brings to mind (not a dogma, just associations):
- "Appropriate" in particular means "appropriate within a culture" which helps make a practice or technology get adopted and be sustained in the community. Sustainability doesn't just mean environmentally sustainable, or economically sustainable, but culturally sustainable as well.
- Thus "appropriate practices" and "appropriate development"
- "-pedia" suggests encyclopedia. Not in the very clearly limited sense of Wikipedia, but in the sense of a comprehensive knowledge resource, written collectively, on a broad range of subjects.
Controversy
Some people do not like the name because it engenders a sense that Appropedia is solely an Appropriate Technology wiki. This incurs a few issues:
- Appropedia is defined much more broadly than just appropriate technology.
- Counterpoint: Appropedia can be considered a site about appropriate development, which includes appropriate technology, and suggests treading lightly on the earth and being sensitive to context. This site is a resource to enable people to find what is appropriate for their needs, rather than follow the beaten path of development through simple old-style growth and consumption, or any other "solution".[2] Although Appropedia is widely perceived as an appropriate technology wiki, this is at least as much about the focus of current content - the fact that this is the area where most of the best work has been done so far.
- Appropriate Technology is a widely known phrase but not universally accepted, and its merits as a term are often debated by development workers.
- What are the objections? Is it considered paternalistic?[3]
- If it's about paternalism, this seems to assume that the "appropriateness" is being determined by "someone else" i.e. a development worker or someone else in a position of power. This is not always the case, and is the opposite of our vision of helping to empower.
- Paternalism is less about words and more about actions. While we should choose the best words, it's not something to spend too much energy on.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Accordingly http://apropedia.com (with one p) directs to http://appropedia.org
- ↑ Comment: I tend to use the expression "appropriate development" when describing the site in conversation, and I'm comfortable with this. --Chriswaterguy
- ↑ All I could find was a tweet that claimed this - very light evidence. (That person was also a bit ambivalent.)
- ↑ E.g. international agencies have become sensitive to concerns about development principles such as transparency, community participation in development, and empowerment; but it is widely regarded that their practices lag behind their stated principles. {This is based on my reading, and on conversations with development workers and activists.) This is to be expected; however they'll be judged by their actions, and only judged the more harshly if they used highly progressive language. Sorry for rambling... this can be moved to a topic page later. :-) --Chriswaterguy
See also
- Appropedia:Name - record of discussions in the Appropedia community, since near the beginning of the project.