Sunlight in cyberspace? On transparency as a form of ordering

Bibliographic Data

ID2398077
AuthorsMikkel Flyverbom (0000-0001-9465-6219, Copenhagen Business School, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume18
Issue2
Pages168-184
Publication date2015-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1368-4310 • E-ISSN: 1461-7137
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1368431014555258
OpenAlexW2157671007
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited38

While we witness a growing belief in transparency as an ideal solution to a wide range of societal problems, we know less about the practical workings of transparency as it guides conduct in organizational and regulatory settings. This article argues that transparency efforts involve much more than the provision of information and other forms of 'sunlight', and are rather a matter of managing visibilities than providing insight and clarity. Building on actor-network theory and Foucauldian governmentality studies, it calls for careful attention to the ways in which transparency ideals are translated into more situated practices and become associated with specific organizational and regulatory concerns. The article conceptualizes transparency as a force that shapes conduct in organizational and socio-political domains. In the second section, this conceptualization of transparency as a form of 'ordering' is substantiated further by using illustrations of the effects of transparency efforts in the internet domain

Cyberspace · Epistemology · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · E-Government and Public Services · Law · Philosophy · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection