My Landyard Anarchism | Aditya Kane  🔗 **Source:** [My Landyard Anarchism | Aditya Kane](https://bombaypirate.com/my-landyard-anarchism/) > [!note]+ Document Notes > --- > tags: [wordcamp-asia, community-organizing, leadership, anarchism, open-source-culture, titles-and-hierarchy, servant-leadership, aditya-kane, wordpress-community, personal-essay] > author: Aditya Kane > source: bombaypirate.com > reference: https://bombaypirate.com/my-landyard-anarchism/ > date created: 2026-09-01 22:45 > --- > > [!info] Generated analysis — not the author's words. Sections below are machine-written > > from the captured source. Only text inside `> [!quote]` blocks is verbatim from the author. > > Do not quote or attribute any other line to the named author. > > [!warning] Thin source — 208 words > > A single-paragraph personal reflection. The 18-section template is applied because the standing > > decision covers every source with real content, but several sections below are one or two lines > > and say so. One link (Wikipedia: Anarchism). The title's "Landyard" is the author's spelling; > > "lanyard" appears in the body. Aditya Kane is a long-time WordPress community organizer in India > > and served as a lead organizer of WordCamp Asia (the post says "the last year"). > # 🏷️ Title: My Landyard Anarchism > ## 🧭 Table of Contents > - [📝 Summary](#-summary) > - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) > - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) > - [📚 References](#-references) > - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) > - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) > - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) > - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) > - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) > - [❓ Questions](#-questions) > - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) > - [💡 Implications](#-implications) > - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) > - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) > - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) > - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) > - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) > - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) > ### 🔗 References > - Source: https://bombaypirate.com/my-landyard-anarchism/ > - Linked in post: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism > ## 📝 Summary > **What this is.** A 208-word reflection by Aditya Kane on having spent a year being called "Lead Organiser of WordCamp Asia" while holding the title "with a sense of disinterest." He describes himself as "more of an anarchist" — anarchism defined as the human tendency to refuse control, question authority, and "look inwards and know oneself" — and says open source "aligns very nicely there." He half-jokes that Gautama Buddha was "one of the first anarchists," declines to elaborate because "a good anarchist will… not self-identify themselves in a box called anarchist," and lands on a personal rule: "not take the whole lead thing too seriously, and take being useful to someone more seriously." He names the resulting stance *lanyard anarchism* — practicing anarchy while wearing the conference badge and "finding ways to be useful." > **The one idea.** Titles in volunteer communities are inevitable after decades of presence; the healthy response is not to refuse them (which is its own kind of self-importance) but to wear them lightly and redirect the attention to usefulness. The badge is the compromise: you accept the visible role because it lets you help, not because it ranks you. > **Bottom line.** A short, self-aware statement of servant-leadership ethics in open-source community organizing, framed through anarchism rather than management vocabulary. Nothing to verify; the value is the framing and the phrase. > ## 📖 Main Content > **The tension.** Long tenure in a volunteer project produces titles whether you want them or not. Kane names this as inevitable — "if you stay around a project for decades" — rather than as an injustice. That's the first move: accept the mechanism, reject the meaning. > **The philosophy.** Anarchism here is not a political program but a disposition: don't agree to be controlled, question authority and expect answers, know yourself. The Buddha reference extends it to an inward discipline. Open source is the fit because it's built on voluntary association and questionable authority (fork rights, public decision logs, contribution over credential). > **The self-limiting joke.** "The one thing a good anarchist will do is not self-identify themselves in a box called anarchist." He's aware the label is a box too, so he refuses to build on it. This is the post's honest center: the same disinterest applied to "Lead" is applied to "anarchist." > **The rule.** "Not take the whole lead thing too seriously, and take being useful to someone more seriously." Servant leadership stated without the corporate phrase. > **The coinage.** *Lanyard anarchism*: the badge is worn, the role is performed, the ego is declined. It reconciles the two halves — you can hold the title *and* the disposition, because the title is a tool for usefulness rather than a rank. > ## 🗒️ Notes > - "I spent a lot of the last year being called Lead Organiser of WordCamp Asia." > - "titles like 'Lead' are inevitable if you stay around a project for decades" — accepts the mechanism. > - "I always wear it with a sense of disinterest. I am more of an anarchist." > - Anarchism defined: refuse control, question authority and get answers, look inward and know oneself. > - "I think of Gautam Buddha as one of the first anarchists." > - "Open source aligns very nicely there for me." > - "a good anarchist will do is not self-identify themselves in a box called anarchist." > - "I dislike titles like lead." Yet "I find myself being called Lead at WordCamps and also around the WordPress community." > - "not take the whole lead thing too seriously, and take being useful to someone more seriously." > - "lanyard anarchism. I practice my anarchy wearing a lanyard and finding ways to be useful." > ## 📚 References > **Linked by the source (1):** Wikipedia, *Anarchism* — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism. > **Named, not linked:** WordCamp Asia; Gautama Buddha. > **Context the analysis brings (not in the source):** Aditya Kane is a Pune/Mumbai-based WordPress community organizer of long standing (WordCamp Pune, WordCamp Mumbai, Meta/Community team contributions). WordCamp Asia is the flagship regional WordCamp (first held Bangkok 2023). Which edition he led is not stated in the post; "the last year" relative to an unknown publication date. > **Link audit.** 1 `<a>` tag, to Wikipedia. No factual claims in the post require a citation. > ## 🗣️ Paraphrase > Kane spent a year being introduced as Lead Organiser of WordCamp Asia and never cared much for the title. He thinks of himself as an anarchist in the personal sense — someone who won't be controlled, asks authority to justify itself, and tries to know himself — and finds open source a natural home for that. He won't say more about being an anarchist, since a real one wouldn't box themselves in with the label either. He dislikes "Lead" but keeps getting called it, so his rule is to take the title lightly and take being useful seriously. He calls this phase *lanyard anarchism*: wearing the badge, doing the work, skipping the ego. > ## 📰 Newsletter > **"Lanyard anarchism": Aditya Kane on wearing a title you don't want** > Aditya Kane spent a year as Lead Organiser of WordCamp Asia and wrote 208 words about not caring for the word "Lead." Not a complaint — he says titles are inevitable once you've been around a project for decades — but a stance: wear it "with a sense of disinterest," take "being useful to someone" more seriously than the role. He frames it through anarchism (refuse control, question authority, know yourself; open source fits) and then refuses that label too, since a good anarchist doesn't box themselves in. > The coinage is the keeper: *lanyard anarchism*. You wear the badge because it lets you help, not because it ranks you. > **For WordPress people:** this is the volunteer-leadership ethic most long-tenured organizers hold and few write down. It's also a quiet counterpoint to a community that has spent two years arguing about who gets to decide things. Kane's answer isn't a governance proposal; it's a personal discipline — hold the visible role lightly, redirect the attention to the work. If you're mentoring a first-time organizer who's nervous about the "Lead" on their badge, send them this. > - Read: https://bombaypirate.com/my-lan I spent a lot of the last year being called Lead Organiser of WordCamp Asia. While I understand titles like “Lead” are inevitable if you stay around a project for decades, I always wear it with a sense of disinterest. I am more of an anarchist. [Anarchism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism) is rooted in a very human tendency to not agree being controlled, to be able to question authority, get answers and most importantly a philosophy to look inwards and know oneself. In some way, I think of Gautam Buddha as one of the first anarchists. Open source aligns very nicely there for me. I won’t talk more about me being an anarchist, because as one more know – the one thing a good anarchist will do is not self-identify themselves in a box called anarchist. But long story short, I dislike titles like **lead**. But over the years I find myself being called **Lead** at WordCamps and also around the WordPress community. I try to remind myself to not take the whole lead thing too seriously, and take being useful to someone more seriously. So in some way, this phase of my life can be called lanyard anarchism. I practice my anarchy wearing a lanyard and finding ways to be useful., My Landyard Anarchism | Aditya Kane, Aditya Kane, 01m1fk53yf6agrhf1q5p5y4am1.