Between conflict and contribution: Jewish editors and the politics of knowledge on Wikipedia

Wikipedia is one of the most influential platforms for digital knowledge production, organized around community-based consensus and open participation. These ideals are increasingly strained in politically sensitive areas, raising questions about minority editors’ inclusion and their ability to participate meaningfully in consensus-building processes. This study examines how Jewish editors experience contributing to English Wikipedia and how their participation is shaped by conflict-related dynamics and identity-based challenges. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 19 Jewish veteran editors of the English Wikipedia, this study outlines a four-phase model of editorial engagement: idealistic entry, emergent friction, emotional erosion, and adaptive coping or emerging silences. The findings reveal how structural and procedural community dynamics can facilitate the exclusion of minority voices, enabling dominant groups to capture and shape public knowledge and narrow the space for contested perspectives.