Stephen Lurie marvels at the organizational structure of wikipedia's volunteers using the rarified ranks of stewards as emblematic of the whole. Recommended by Pine on Wiki-research-l. medium 
quote
This weird, almost ungainly success has left Wikimedia, and the stewards who manage it, at the center of a political tug-of-war. Almost every political camp has tried to claim this unique work ethos as their own: After all, who wouldn’t want to take credit for the enormous success?
Libertarians and anarchists say it all works because the project lacks a central authority.
Capitalists boast about the laissez-faire dynamic and tendency toward equilibrium.
Socialists suggest that Wikimedia is an egalitarian model unaffected by capitalist incentives.
.
Clay Shirky has noted that wikipedia has been built with the "cognitive surplus" available in a rich world. Lurie is more impressed with the maintenance of the organizational structure. I worry that it is all transient as are most cultural accomplishments, just faster with computers.