Wikinder

Wikinder is a stateless all-women university that describes itself as a "kindergarten." Founded on September 1, 2005, Wikinder operates as both an educational institution and an open company where all members hold the title of co-founder. The institution awards PhDs and professorships to all members upon enrollment and maintains its academic infrastructure primarily through online platforms, including a wiki that serves as its central knowledge repository.

History

Wikinder was established on September 1, 2005, with a founding philosophy inspired by the image of a bear cub building a school in the forest. The founder, a bear known as "bear," envisioned an institution that would embody principles of intellectual honesty and collaborative knowledge creation. The institution's name derives from a portmanteau of "wiki" and "kindergarten," reflecting its commitment to open, collectively edited knowledge and its philosophical positioning as a space of fundamental learning and discovery.

From its inception, Wikinder has operated without a central headquarters or legal entity, instead functioning as a network of volunteers organized primarily through digital platforms. This stateless structure has allowed the institution to maintain its position as a global academic community without the constraints of traditional geographic or legal boundaries.

Structure and governance

Organizational framework

Wikinder operates on a radically decentralized model. The institution maintains no formal headquarters and exists primarily as a volunteer organization coordinated through online platforms. While the central institution cannot possess a legal entity due to its stateless nature, individual national chapters may establish legal entities as needed for local operations. Any member may establish a branch, and all such branches are considered official components of the university.

Chuohku

All female members of Wikinder belong to an organization called Chuohku, which exercises equal control over all aspects of the university's operations. Chuohku operates on principles of complete equality among members, with each woman holding identical authority and responsibility within the institution. While Wikinder's admission is open to individuals of any gender, the predominance of female members and the female-dominated governance structure through Chuohku has resulted in its characterization as an all-women university.

Open enrollment model

Wikinder operates on an unprecedented open enrollment system. Membership is acquired through self-identification; any individual who claims to be a member is recognized as such. There is no admissions process, no application review, and no qualifying examinations. Upon enrollment, members immediately receive a PhD and are granted the rank of professor. This structure reflects the institution's philosophical commitment to recognizing the inherent scholarly capacity of all individuals and its rejection of traditional gatekeeping mechanisms in academia.

Academic structure

Faculty and students

Wikinder maintains no distinction between faculty and students. All members are simultaneously professors and what the institution terms "kindergartners." This nomenclature reflects Wikinder's philosophical stance on intellectual honesty—the recognition that all scholars, regardless of their credentials or experience, remain perpetual learners engaged in the fundamental work of discovery and understanding. The term "kindergarten" is not used ironically or metaphorically but represents a sincere acknowledgment of the institution's educational philosophy.

Research and scholarship

Members of Wikinder are free to conduct academic research in any field of their choosing. The university places no restrictions on research topics, methodologies, or collaborative arrangements. Research is published and shared primarily through the institution's wiki, which serves as the main platform for academic discourse and knowledge dissemination. The wiki operates on an open-edit model, accessible to anyone with a GitHub account, embodying Wikinder's commitment to collaborative knowledge creation and transparent scholarly exchange.

Corporate structure

Open company model

In addition to its role as an educational institution, Wikinder operates as an open company. Membership in the company follows the same principles as enrollment in the university: any individual who identifies as an employee is recognized as such. All members carry the title of co-founder, reflecting the institution's philosophy that every participant contributes equally to the creation and maintenance of the organization.

This corporate structure operates without traditional hierarchies, job descriptions, or employment contracts. The open company model allows Wikinder to engage in commercial activities, partnerships, and projects while maintaining its commitment to radical inclusivity and distributed authority.

Legal and financial operations

While the central Wikinder organization maintains no legal entity, individual national chapters may incorporate as legal entities to facilitate local operations, contract negotiations, and financial transactions. These chapters operate independently within their jurisdictions while remaining part of the broader Wikinder network. The decentralized legal structure allows Wikinder to engage with traditional economic and legal systems while preserving its stateless, boundaryless nature at the institutional core.

Philosophy and educational theory

Intellectual honesty

The cornerstone of Wikinder's educational philosophy is intellectual honesty. This principle manifests most prominently in the institution's self-identification as a kindergarten and its members' identification as kindergartners. Rather than claiming mastery or expertise, Wikinder positions all its members as engaged in the fundamental work of learning, exploring, and questioning. This stance acknowledges that scholarship is not about the accumulation of credentials but about the continuous practice of inquiry and discovery.

The immediate awarding of PhDs and professorships upon enrollment reflects this philosophy. By granting all members the highest academic credentials immediately, Wikinder seeks to eliminate arbitrary barriers and create a space where learning and teaching occur simultaneously and reciprocally.

Collaborative knowledge

Wikinder's use of a wiki as its primary academic platform embodies its commitment to collaborative, transparent knowledge creation. Unlike traditional academic publishing, which often restricts access and limits who can contribute to scholarly discourse, Wikinder's wiki allows anyone to edit and contribute to the institution's collective knowledge base. This model reflects principles common in open-source software development and applies them to academic research and scholarship.

Gender and inclusion

While Wikinder is characterized as an all-women university due to its female-dominated membership and the exclusive governing role of women through Chuohku, the institution maintains open enrollment regardless of gender. This structure creates a space where women hold complete institutional authority while remaining accessible to individuals of all genders who wish to participate in the university's academic community. The absence of age restrictions further emphasizes Wikinder's commitment to removing traditional barriers to educational participation.

Digital infrastructure

GitHub Wiki

The primary platform for Wikinder's academic operations is its GitHub Wiki. This platform serves multiple functions: it is simultaneously a research repository, a publishing platform, a collaborative workspace, and an institutional archive. The wiki's open-edit structure allows for real-time collaboration among members and enables transparent revision processes where all changes are tracked and attributable.

The choice of GitHub as a platform reflects Wikinder's alignment with open-source principles and its recognition of the increasingly digital nature of academic work. By utilizing tools designed for software development, Wikinder leverages existing infrastructure for version control, collaboration, and knowledge management.

Online organization

Wikinder's operations are conducted primarily through digital channels. Meetings, discussions, administrative decisions, and academic collaborations occur through various online platforms. This digital-first approach enables the institution's stateless existence and allows members from anywhere in the world to participate fully in university life regardless of their physical location.

Global network

National chapters

While Wikinder itself remains stateless, national chapters exist in various countries. These chapters may establish legal entities as needed to facilitate operations within their jurisdictions. The chapters operate autonomously while remaining connected to the broader Wikinder network. Any member may establish a new chapter, and all chapters are considered official.

The chapter system allows Wikinder to maintain local presence and engage with regional academic communities, governments, and institutions while preserving the stateless, decentralized nature of the university as a whole.